


It Was Always Going To End This Way

by JNS



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, Fluff, It's me., Of course there is going to be fluff, Revenant!Nicole AU, Season 1 adjacent, Waverly and Champ are together in the beginning (sorry), Yes. I've written a Rev!Nicole AU because I really REALLY wanted to!, and a little bit of smut.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-31
Updated: 2018-11-06
Packaged: 2019-06-19 14:18:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 50,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15511689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JNS/pseuds/JNS
Summary: Nicole spent the better part of a century hiding away from who and what she was. When she came back into the town of Purgatory, she'd been prepared for some hostility from her fellow Revenants...especially once they saw her in uniform. What she hadn't prepared for was Waverly Earp...





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I'm back with a new multi-chapter fic and it is indeed a Revenant!Nicole fic! 
> 
> I know this might not be everybody's thing but I wanted to write it so here we are. I'm playing VERY fast and loose with the S1 timeline here but this is set during that timeframe, so a lot of stuff we learn beyond the middle of season 1 (eg. Waverly isn't an Earp, Willa wasn't dead) doesn't come into play here. 
> 
> Rating will change but for now it is at T just to be safe. 
> 
> Endless thanks to @Luckywantstoknow (@LuckyWantsTo on twitter) for continuing to be an amazing beta! I've been a little in my own head about this fic and it probably wouldn't have seen the light of day without you! 
> 
> I hope you enjoy the ride!

“Ok...so are you going to shoot me or…?” Nicole grimaced inwardly, she’d tried to go for casual and it really was not the time.

“I haven’t decided yet.” Wynonna gripped her gun tighter, a look of absolute betrayal on her face that Nicole hated being responsible for. “Peacemaker might even work for Waverly in this case…you _lied_ to her.”

Nicole had to choose her next words wisely. She had already enraged one Earp, another one wouldn’t do any good. She couldn’t see any other way around it though and the likelihood that she’d be around to even deal with it was dwindling fast.

“Waverly knows…”

“No!” Wynonna barked, shaking her head, clearly, she didn’t believe Nicole. Nicole couldn’t blame her, it wasn’t like Waverly to keep anything from her sister. Especially not something this big.

“She’s known for a while now…since before we…” Nicole’s shoulders slumped, none of this was going according to plan. Waverly was supposed to be here for her if it didn’t go well, she was supposed to help calm Wynonna down or more likely, in Nicole’s opinion, just be there so Nicole could say goodbye. Now she might never get the chance. 

“No…she would have told me. Why wouldn’t she tell me?!” Peacemaker shook wildly in Wynonna’s hand and Nicole flinched for just a moment before she steeled herself for what was about to come.

“Well…” Nicole pointed to the still glowing gun aimed directly at her face.

“Fair point.” Wynonna shrugged and for a moment Nicole thought she might just lower her weapon, it actually seemed like Wynonna was about to, but then something flashed across her eyes and she held firm. “Were you ever going to tell me?”

“Yes,” Nicole said with a firm nod. That had always been the plan. 

Wynonna let out a sarcastic laugh that made Nicole wince. “When?” 

“We were planning on telling you…this weekend.”

“You expect me to believe that?” She laughed again, and Nicole gritted her teeth, this really was not going well.

“We _wanted_ to tell you when I was the last one but-“

“But no one even knows if I’ll be able to break this stupid curse.” Wynonna began shaking her head, her aim never faltering even when her gaze drifted, and she seemed lost in thought.

“I do,” Nicole stated honestly, and Wynonna’s eyes fixed on her.

Nicole did know it, mainly because with her help Wynonna had been able to take down more Revenants than any Earp heir before her and Nicole knew Wynonna would get the rest of them too. She just wished Wynonna knew how much she had helped.

“All that information about the Revenants, it’s been coming from _me._ I can’t stand the thought of Waverly…of either of you living under this curse for any longer than you have to.” Nicole took a step forward, moving more into the firing line of Peacemaker. “You have to put me down though, I know that.”

“Y-you’re... going willingly?” Wynonna asked, doubt clear as day on her face even as she steadied her arm and her grip towards Nicole. 

“Yes.” Nicole wouldn’t exactly call it willing, but she knew it had to happen at some point and Wynonna was so close now. With all the information Nicole had left Waverly to find, they could easily finish the job without her. She knew Waverly would be safe soon. “I am.”

“Waverly is never going to forgive me…”

“She will…she knew it was always going to end this way. We both did.” Nicole smiled weakly; that wasn’t strictly true. Waverly had her hopes and her wild dreams and no matter how many times Nicole tried to get her to think rationally, she knew it never really stuck. No matter what though, Waverly would eventually forgive Wynonna. Nicole didn’t doubt it.

“She stayed with you? Why?” Wynonna’s brow furrowed, and Nicole smiled for real this time because she knew why.

“I’m pretty sure neither of us meant for this to happen. It wasn’t exactly my plan to fall in love with an Earp.” Nicole hadn’t said it out loud before, but that’s what it was and had been for quite some time. She was absolutely certain it was love for her, and she had a pretty good inkling it was for Waverly too. That would have to be good enough now.

She thought it might make it worse, if she admitted to herself how she truly felt for Waverly, but it had simply solidified her plan. She loved Waverly too much to let the curse remain unbroken. She deserved a life, a real life not overshadowed by this and by what Nicole was.

“Can I just ask for one thing before you...” Nicole gestured to Peacemaker once again and Wynonna’s face hardened like she thought Nicole was about to ask her not to do the job she was destined to do.

“What?”

“Can I say goodbye? One phone call, I just…please?” Nicole could feel the tears coming. She was positive it had to be a strange image, her eyes their hellish red, her brand glowing under the scrutiny of Peacemaker and tears rolling down her face. Wynonna didn’t lower the gun, but she nodded, her face softening just a little.

With a shaky hand, Nicole pulled her phone out of her back pocket. She hit the most recently called number and brought it to her ear as she turned away from Wynonna. Even before telephones allowed you to see another person’s face, she had found the things incredible. Nicole knew she couldn’t handle seeing Waverly right now though, no matter how much she wanted to just one last time.

“Hey baby!” Waverly’s voice chirped in her ear and Nicole bit down on her lip to stop it from trembling so much.

“Hey…”

“Are you ok?” Waverly instantly sounded worried and Nicole wished she had been able to keep her emotions out of her voice. She was doing the right thing, Waverly had to know she believed that.

“Yeah…yes. I…” Nicole hesitated, she wouldn’t have picked this moment as the moment to tell Waverly, maybe she shouldn’t tell her at all and make it easier, but Waverly deserved to know how much Nicole cared about her before she was gone. “I just wanted to tell you that I…love you.”

“Nicole…?”

“I know I should have said it in person for the first time. Believe me I wish I could but-“

“Nicole.” All the wistfulness was gone from Waverly’s voice, an authoritative tone that Nicole was usually quite a fan of taking over. “Put Wynonna on the phone.”

“Baby…”

“Put her on the phone, Nicole. I know she’s there, I know she’s…does she have Peacemaker on you?”

“Waverly, it’s ok.” Nicole knew she was fighting a losing battle, Waverly was always going to fight this. No matter when it happened. Waverly would never be willing to let Nicole give herself up like this.

“No, it’s not. It is so far from ok! This was not how this was supposed to happen, not now…not like this!” Waverly was shouting now, and Nicole lowered the volume on her phone. The last thing she needed was for Wynonna to hear how distraught Waverly was before she had done what needed to be done.

“I love you...more than I’ve ever loved anyone.” Nicole sniffled as she spoke through the burn in the back of her throat. “You’re going to have such a great life Waverly. The life you deserve!”

“Nicole…” Waverly’s voice cracked, and Nicole’s chest felt like it was being ripped open. “You can’t…you can’t say that to me and then expect me to be ok with you leaving me!”

“I know...I’m sorry, I just needed you to know. I love you.” Nicole openly sobbed as the last words she needed to say got stuck in her throat. She took a deep breath. “G-goodbye, Waverly.”

“Nicole! Nic-“

Nicole ended the call on Waverly’s desperate screams, she dropped her phone to the ground and hoped that Wynonna hadn’t heard them. Her knees buckled, and she landed on them, head hung low as she took a few final deep breaths. She could do this.

“She’s ok…” Nicole lied as she lifted her head and faced Wynonna. “Do it. She knows you have to.”

The low hum of Peacemaker was the only sound she could hear as Wynonna’s finger began to squeeze at the trigger. Nicole closed her eyes, rushing through every image of Waverly Earp she had stored away in her mind for this exact moment.

“I’m sorry,” Wynonna said quietly as she pulled the trigger.

 

_**Four months ago.** _

 

“You’re an idiot.”

“Thanks Bobo.” Nicole rolled her eyes.

“You have absolutely no idea what you’re doing.” Bobo let out a clipped laugh and Nicole tried to tamp down her growing annoyance. She couldn’t get into a fight with him in the middle of town, despite how much she might want to.

“Did you really come into town just to call me an idiot?” Nicole put her Stetson back on her head, she knew she’d take the shape out of it if her fingers gripped it any harder.

“No,” Bobo said before he ran his tongue along his teeth, leaned forward and narrowed his eyes. “You stay away from her.”

“Who?”

“You might have decided after eighty years of self-imposed exile from the rest of us that becoming a cop was actually a bright idea, but you stay away from the Earps and we won’t need to have a problem.” Bobo didn’t back away and Nicole hated how much she wanted to take a step back from him.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Nicole had never been a particularly good liar, a good number of decades of not practicing her social skills had only made that even more true.

Bobo’s eyes narrowed further, and Nicole was beginning to squirm. She didn’t have to answer to Bobo, but she knew when she decided to move back into town, she was always going to run the risk of him trying to hold his influence over her again.

Bobo had to know what she’d been up to, she should have known there was no way he wasn’t going to keep an eye on her when he figured out she was back _and_ had decided to join the Sheriff’s department. It might have held her back slightly from putting her plan into action if she had thought that would be the case but she wasn’t going to back down now. She squared her shoulders as his gaze hardened.

“Yes, you do,” Bobo replied knowingly before walking away, leaving a shiver down Nicole’s spine.

Of course, Nicole knew exactly what he was talking about, but she hadn’t imagined Bobo would think her brave enough to give any of the information she had stored away in her head about all of the Revenants to an Earp. Anyway, there wasn’t anything wrong with wanting a friend, right? Even if said friend was part of the family tasked with sending Nicole and everyone like her back to hell…

Nicole had only been sent down once after her first time. Josiah. Not long after she came back from that nightmare, she made herself scarce. She wasn’t under any kind of assumption that she didn’t belong down there-- she did. What she had done while she was alive haunted her, tormented her in her sleep and it was the reason she wanted to be right where she was, right now.

She wanted to do something good, be a better person before the inevitable happened again. She thought it might help if she ever came back, help her keep more of herself when she returned. Now that she’d met the current heir though, she wasn’t so sure she would ever be coming back once she faced down Peacemaker again.

She’d only met Wynonna a handful of times, but Nicole was pretty sure if any Earp was going to end this curse, it would be her. There was a fire behind those eyes, one she hadn’t even seen in Wyatt’s when Peacemaker was pointed at her for the first time, her arm around the throat of his partner and her gun pointed at his head. 

Nicole squeezed her eyes shut. Every single time she was around another Revenant the memories came back stronger. She could feel his fear, her own fear and then her acceptance as she shoved him forward and Wyatt took the shot. She doubled over in the middle of the street, hands on her knees as she took in some deep breaths. She shouldn’t be seen like this in uniform.

“Officer Haught?”

Nicole’s eyes opened and she straightened up as fast as she could. Before she could stop it, a bright smile spread across her face at the woman in front of her. The warmth that was present whenever Waverly Earp was close to her returned and chased away her unpleasant memories. The first time Nicole had laid eyes on Waverly she realized that in some way her warmth burned hotter than hellfire itself, and she knew she was in trouble. If hell was Waverly Earp’s smile, Nicole would happily go back over and over.

“Afternoon, Miss Earp.” Nicole tipped her Stetson and Waverly’s answering blush gave Nicole a thrill that rivalled anything she’d done in her entire time on this earth. “Please though…call me Nicole.”

“Alright…Nicole.” Waverly’s eyes wandered across the street to Shorty’s briefly before darting back to Nicole. She was obviously on her way to work, that t-shirt Nicole liked so much adorning her frame, but she’d gone out of her way to come and check on Nicole.

“Do you need to get to work?”

“Yeah…but, are you ok? You looked a little…” Waverly’s blush came back. They weren’t exactly on such friendly terms that Waverly could openly state that Nicole looked like she was about to throw up all over the street.

“Just a migraine…I’ll be alright.” Nicole nodded, rubbing her temple for good measure.

“You’re sure? You could…come in and grab a glass of water?” Waverly hooked her thumb across the street towards the bar.

It was definitely a tempting offer, more time spent around Waverly despite Bobo’s ominous threat, but Nicole was determined to continue with the good impression she was making down at the station. Blowing off patrol to sneak some time, even with the town darling, was not going to win her any favors.

“I’m sure, thank you though. Maybe I’ll come by for a drink after my shift?” Nicole tilted her head, bravely bringing out that smile that always seemed to make Waverly a little nervous as she slipped her thumbs through her belt loops. It appeared to have the desired effect as Waverly seemed to zone out for a moment before clearing her throat.

“Yeah…that…sounds good. I’m on all night.” Waverly bounced once on her toes before she gave a single nod of her head and turned to cross the street. “Bye Offic-Nicole.” Waverly ducked her head and Nicole could have sworn she was muttering something to herself.

“Bye, Waverly.” Nicole couldn’t help but chuckle, at least she knew she could still fluster a pretty girl when she wanted to…even if said pretty girl had a _boyfriend_ .


	2. Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pleased to see so many of you are up for this ride! I promise you're in safe hands.
> 
> Just a heads up that this fic will jump between character's perspectives. It won't in every chapter but in most of them, this was definitely not a story I wanted to tell just from one person's point of view! 
> 
> Thanks to [@luckywantstoknow](https://twitter.com/LuckyWantsTo) for beta-ing this!

“Champ,” Waverly sighed for what felt like the millionth time since she’d started her shift. “You have to pay your tab before I can put any more drinks on it.”

“But babe-“

“No. Gus is fed up with my excuses. Shorty might have let you get away with it but he’s…” Waverly pushed down her sadness; it had been a few weeks and while it was certainly getting easier, saying his name was still just as hard. “You have a job, Champ, pay your tab.” Waverly finished wiping down the bar and threw the towel she’d been using over her shoulder. She levelled Champ with a look that dared him to challenge her.

“Fine.” Champed rolled his eyes. “I’ll pay it later, but can you just add one more round?” He pouted and Waverly’s shoulders slumped. Champ’s lips turned up in triumph, immediately knowing he’d won. Waverly just sighed and went about grabbing glasses for him, Pete and Kyle. “Thanks babe.”

Waverly knew she was being played but she decided if Gus gave her anymore crap for Champ’s tab after today, she was just going to tell her to take it up with him herself. She was sick of being the person people went to when they had a problem with her boyfriend. In fact, lately, she was just sick of her boyfriend, period. She was scared of what a life without Champ would look like though, especially now that Wynonna was back, and the curse was rearing its ugly head. He was like a tattered, beer-soaked safety blanket, and even with his tendency to sleep around he still provided some semblance of security and stability that Waverly so desperately needed.

Waverly pushed the beers towards Champ and turned around to stack the remaining glasses behind the bar. Arms encircled her, and she felt lips press quickly and repeatedly against her cheek. She forced a smile but only because Champ could see her in the mirror hanging in front of them.

“Hands off, loser.”

Waverly’s smile turned genuine at her sister’s interruption.

“She’s _my_ girlfriend.” Champ whined, turning around to glare at Wynonna, who had claimed a bar stool in front of the pair. Waverly used the distraction to get out of his embrace.

“I’ll see you later, Champ.” Waverly guided him around from behind the bar, thankfully without protest.

“Yeah?” He asked hopefully.

Waverly had really only meant that she would see him later in the bar, but of course his mind went straight to sex. She would be sleeping in her own bed tonight, alone. The absolute last thing she wanted to do after a long shift was to go to bed with a Champ who had been drinking since six PM.

“Go drink your beer, Champ!” Wynonna picked up the tray sitting on the bar and forced it into his hands, shooting a sympathetic smile to Waverly as she did so. “Is there a reason you’re still with that asshat?” Wynonna reached over the bar and picked up a bottle of whiskey and a glass before pouring herself a drink and downing it.

“I’ve already told you. Small town…limited dating options and there’s not exactly many people lining up to date an Earp.” Waverly shrugged, it had been the same story for most of her life. The fact she even had a boyfriend at all felt like a miracle.

“Yeah well, anyone in this stupid town would be lucky to have you, Waves.”

“Maybe you should tell them that!” Waverly gestured wildly around the bar, she was pretty sure there wasn’t a single person in the building who would actually want to date her, or even who she’d rather be with over Champ, but having the option would be nice.

“Who? Officer Haught?!” Wynonna cackled, and Waverly choked on air.

She hadn’t even noticed Nicole walk into the bar and Waverly’s finger was currently pointed directly at her as she stood awkwardly by the door with a perplexed look on her face. Waverly’s cheeks burned and continued to do so as Wynonna carried on laughing when Nicole began making her way over towards them.

“Shut it.” Waverly slapped a towel at her sister, but the chuckling persisted. She decided it was just safer to ignore her sister completely and switched on her well-practiced bartender smile for Nicole. “Hey, Nicole. What can I get you?”

“Just a beer. Thanks, Waverly.” Nicole’s smile wasn’t as bright as it usually was, her eyes only lingering on Waverly’s for a moment before they strayed elsewhere. She hesitated behind the barstool next to Wynonna and Wynonna quickly turned to face her.

“Do I stink?” Wynonna quirked her eyebrow at Nicole playfully and she rushed to slide onto the stool.

Waverly worried that Nicole’s migraine hadn’t fully left her yet and so she pushed a glass of water her way along with the beer. Nicole gratefully smiled her usual dimpled smile. Waverly felt her cheeks flush all over again.

 

____

 

Nicole had never been so close for so long to the gun that had sent her to hell. She could _feel_ it. It was mere inches away and she didn’t know how it wasn’t lighting up and giving her away. She figured hopefully that unless it was aimed directly at her, it wouldn’t. Getting shot in the middle of Shorty’s was not exactly how she wanted to go down.

Nicole was trying to forget about it; she was trying to enjoy an evening surrounded by the people of the town she had sworn to protect after actively avoiding it for decades. She actually felt accepted, for the first time in her life. When she walked down the street people smiled at her, people stopped to talk to her but some days the guilt would hit her hard. If they knew what she really was they would go running, but now they flocked to her purposefully; they asked her how she was settling in, how she was liking the town. Little did they know she knew Purgatory better than most of them ever would. Her little story of coming from out of town was so easily bought, thanks to the fake documents she cashed in a near century old favor for.

Unfortunately, Nicole was failing miserably at ignoring the gun attached to the hip of the woman sitting next to her, with the exception of each and every moment that Waverly would join in on their conversation for a few moments. Thankfully, Nicole _was_ actually able to carry on a conversation with Wynonna when Waverly wasn’t around, but she never felt truly relaxed.

It wasn’t as hard as Nicole had imagined it would be to chat lightly about topics someone of her supposed age would find interesting. She may have kept herself away from the town and people in general, but she hadn’t shied away from keeping up with what was actually going on in Purgatory or the rest of the world. 

She vividly remembered the day she first heard the names Willa, Wynonna and Waverly, and it was that day that she began thinking of a way she could come back to town and make sure that something like the attack on the Earp Homestead never happened again. She knew the Revenants that attacked the Homestead were some of the most despicable she’d come across, but to take a child...even if that child was to be the next heir, that broke Nicole in a way she hadn’t expected. She hadn’t thought that she could still be surprised by the horrors her kind committed but apparently she could. 

Waverly leaned against the bar, the tiredness evident in her stance as she took another breather with an hour still to go before the bar would close for the night. Nicole was ready to head home, she’d only had a few beers but after a long day she could do with a good night’s sleep. The crowd in the bar had begun to thin out however, and she knew there would be more time for Waverly to speak with them, so she hung around.

“Not now!” Wynonna groaned as she pulled her buzzing phone out of her pocket and stuck it to her ear. Nicole could hear Dolls on the other end and she knew it had to be Revenant related.

Waverly didn’t seem to notice that she was leaning over the bar to listen in on the phone call, right into Nicole’s space, until their fingers brushed and Waverly pulled back quickly with reddened cheeks. Nicole had noticed _that_ happened more and more recently.

“Sorry.” Waverly ducked her head shyly before moving back in, closer to Wynonna this time. Nicole could only nod uselessly as she tried to get the scent of everything Waverly out of her nostrils.

“Yeah. Yes, I get it Dolls…I know! I was just enjoying _one_ night where stinkin’-“ Wynonna frowned at Nicole as she cut herself off. “I’ll be there.”

Wynonna hung up the phone with a frustrated sigh and downed the glass in front of her. Nicole really didn’t know how Wynonna managed to do what she did _not_ sober but she figured the work might just drive you drink. Nicole wished she could help her, offer her knowledge and information on the revenants, but she couldn’t very well do that without revealing herself.

“Got to head in, babygirl. You ok to swing by BBD after you’re done here? See if we need that big brain of yours?”

Nicole could see the fatigue chased from Waverly’s eyes as soon as Wynonna asked for her help. Nicole had guessed that Waverly was the smart one, she was probably brilliant, but she wasn’t sure how Waverly seemingly being the brains behind this small branch of Black Badge made her feel.

Waverly could discover her, _before_ she had the chance to explain herself. She knew it would happen eventually, she just hoped that when it did, Nicole would have had the chance to prove herself as an ally. Nicole was sure she wanted the curse broken just as much as the Earps. It was no life just waiting to die.

Nicole took no pleasure in hiding away from civilisation; she hated being reminded just how different she was. She hadn’t stayed away for fear of being sent down again, not really. She wasn’t looking forward to that of course, but mostly she was scared of getting sent down and coming back one day, a little less human than before, more like the rest of her kind who had turned into even more heartless monsters thanks to their time spent below. If she was going to become that, she’d rather she was far away from anyone she might be able to hurt.

“Yes, I’ll be there.” Waverly answered enthusiastically. “I’ll see if Gus will let me go early?”

“Perfect! Thanks for the drinks!” Wynonna called over her shoulder as she slunk away from the bar and towards the door.

“Wynonna!” Waverly called after her sister, but her shoulders slumped as she realised she was not coming back to pay for the multiple drinks she had consumed.

“Don’t worry, I’ll cover her drinks.” Nicole pulled out her wallet, now that she had a steady income and didn’t exactly need to save for her future, she was happy to spend it.

“No, Nicole!” Waverly pushed Nicole’s hand back with a firm shake of her head.

“It’s fine, just let her know I did it and maybe it’ll earn me some brownie points.” Nicole winked but Waverly continued to shake her head.

“I can’t let you do that.”

“Waverly, please. I know that _boy-man_ of yours doesn’t pay his tab, so I don’t want Wynonna to add to that when I’m more than happy to cover her.” Nicole winced, her little comment about Champ hadn’t meant to come out _quite_ so mean.

Though... after spending the evening watching said boy-man get drunk off his ass and only coming over to speak with Waverly when he wanted more alcohol, or to tastelessly grab her ass, Nicole was feeling just a little irritated by the man child.

“I was really hoping he’d have gone home by now…maybe if I leave through the back he won’t notice.” Waverly said as she glanced hesitantly over at her boyfriend. Her eyes went wide, and she quickly turned back to Nicole. “That sounded really bad…”

“No judgement here.” Nicole smiled, feeling a little smug that her obvious dislike of Champ hadn’t been taken badly by Waverly. Maybe she really wasn’t so head over heels for him as Nicole had first thought. “Go speak to Gus, if he comes over I’ll keep him distracted until I know you’re gone.”

“Thanks, I owe you one…another one.” Waverly blushed and rushed off towards the back office.

Nicole smiled to herself, Waverly did now technically owe her twice, but she certainly wasn’t keeping score. Any time she got to spend around the youngest Earp was time well spent. She couldn’t think of any way Waverly could make it better…well, there was _one_ way but that was never going to happen and probably the worst idea Nicole had ever had.

Ten minutes past and there was no sign of Waverly again, Gus must have let her head to Black Badge. Did she know what her nieces got up to over there?

Nicole often wondered how so much supernatural activity could go on right under Purgatory’s citizens’ noses and none of them notice but Gus seemed as quick as Waverly; she might just have some idea what was going on.

It wasn’t until last orders had been called that Champ sauntered up to the bar again, a crease in his brow as he looked around for Waverly.

“Hey, Officer...uh…”

“Haught,” Nicole sighed, she had a feeling he liked to forget her name on purpose.

“Right. You seen my girl?” Champ had every right to call Waverly ‘his girl’ but that didn’t stop the anger from bubbling up in Nicole at hearing those words. It was stupid, she knew that but it was also dangerous. It was far too easy for her to give herself away when she got angry and so far, she’d been able to control herself around others. She took a deep breath and a quick look in the mirror behind the bar to double check her eyes before she turned to face him fully. 

“No, sorry. Maybe she finished early?” Nicole gave her sweetest, most innocent smile, not surprised in the slightest by just how easy it was to lie to him.

“Huh…” Champ’s brow furrowed as he pulled out his phone. Nicole was certain he was about to call Waverly and annoy her but when he brought his phone to his ear as he walked away, another woman’s name fell from his mouth. _“Hey_ Steph…what are you doing tonight?”

Nicole’s hand tightened around her nearly empty beer glass so quickly that it shattered in an instant and sent pieces of glass flying over the top of the bar. She sent an apologetic smile towards the barman and excused herself before anyone asked too many questions.

Champ really was a piece of shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You still on board? 
> 
> You can follow me on twitter [@JNSbeth](https://twitter.com/JNSbeth)  
> if you'd like to scream with me about Wynonna Earp on Friday nights...or any day of the week really :D


	3. Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thrilled that so many of you are still on board with this fic! I really was not expecting the response that I've received so far so thank you :D all of your comments on the first two chapters have been amazing to read! 
> 
> Thanks once again to @Luckywantstoknow for being such an awesome beta!!

Waverly’s eyes were struggling to stay open as she pored over pages in the BBD office. She wanted to help in any way she could, but she did have to admit that she was running herself ragged.

Working until late at Shorty’s and then straight into the station was not conducive to producing her best work. It was becoming a common occurrence but thankfully this time, Dolls and Wynonna were not currently in the vicinity to notice that she had read the same page six times without taking in a single word.

Shorty’s had been closed for almost an hour and Champ hadn’t called. That was fine, though admittedly there was a tiny part of her that hoped he might. Just so she could tell him she was busy or just completely ignore the call, but the harsh reality was that he wouldn’t call. He’d call someone else; he always did these days.

She hoped that Wynonna and Dolls would reappear at some point soon, then she could head home, forget about how shitty a boyfriend she had and wake up tomorrow pretending her life wasn’t a pretty pathetic tale. She figured she had at least another hour before she would be tucked up in bed and able to sleep, and therefore coffee was definitely needed if she had any hope of staying awake long enough to drive both herself and Wynonna home.

She grabbed the spare key for the BBD office from behind Dolls’ desk and headed for the break room to steal some of the god-awful coffee that the officers had to deal with.

“Jesus!” Waverly nearly had a heart attack when she turned around to see Nicole standing wide eyed in front of her.

“Sorry. I was just…” Nicole took a couple steps back, wringing her hands together. She looked even more uncomfortable than she had earlier at the bar and Waverly wondered if maybe she’d done something to cause Nicole to feel so awkward around her.

She knew she stared sometimes…a lot of the time recently. Even when she knew she shouldn’t. Maybe she wasn’t as stealthy as she thought.

“Is everything ok?” Waverly asked, her concern genuine. If she had done something to make Nicole this uncomfortable around her, she wanted to fix that.

She was pretty sure that she’d caught Nicole looking at her sometimes too, but she was never entirely convinced. She didn’t know why Nicole would look at her that way when Waverly had never seen her look at anyone else like that.

“Um…I just wanted to check on you…?” Nicole grimaced, whatever she had planned to say-- that certainly wasn’t it. “The station can be a little creepy late at night…”

“You know this is not the first time I’ve been here this late…and Lonnie is at the desk?” Waverly raised an eyebrow. She was going to get whatever was bothering Nicole out of her.

“Right.” Nicole nodded once. “I’ll just…” She turned and started to walk away but Waverly didn’t want Nicole disappearing without figuring out what was going on with her.

“Nicole?”

“Yeah?” Nicole spun around.

“Was that really why you came?” Waverly asked, Nicole’s shoulders slumped, and she slowly shook her head.

“Do you know a girl named Steph?” Nicole asked quietly, and Waverly nodded as she started to realise why Nicole had seemed so awkward. _Champ._ “I…Champ, he…y’know what? Never mind.” Nicole turned on her heels and started to walk towards the entrance to the station.

Waverly quickly followed and tugged on her sleeve. As soon as Steph’s name was uttered she knew what Nicole was trying to do, bless her heart.

“He called her, right? After he realised I was gone?”

“Yeah…I shouldn’t have said anything, we don’t even know each other that well and she’s probably just a friend of his, I just-“

“She’s not a friend. Well…she’s _supposed_ to be my friend, but she’s never been very good at it.” Waverly shrugged.

It wasn’t the first time and she was sure it wouldn’t be the last time that Champ called Steph after midnight for some entertainment when Waverly was too busy or not interested in some, quite frankly, mediocre sex. In the beginning it had bothered Waverly that Champ strayed, she worried that Champ was going to leave her, but he never did. She figured that was something at least.

“I’m sorry.” Nicole placed her hand on Waverly’s shoulder and Waverly gave her a small smile in return. Her concern was lovely but Waverly was over letting Champ’s indiscretions upset her.

“He does this, it’s ok.” Waverly shrugged again, and Nicole took a step back, her brows pulled together.

“Waverly, that’s not ok…unless, do you guys have…an agreement?” Nicole asked hesitantly, a gleam in her eye that Waverly did not miss. _Huh?_ Nicole looked away quickly and Waverly realised she was staring again.

“Oh, no. We don’t.”

“Then it’s not ok, Waverly.” Nicole looked back to her with such genuine sadness in her eyes, Waverly almost believed her. “You don’t deserve that!”

Nicole was firm, like she truly believed Waverly deserved better and Waverly wished she could believe that too.

“Waverly you’re…” Nicole shook her head and then locked eyes with Waverly, with a look of pure determination, like she had just right then decided something. “You are amazing, Waverly! You deserve someone who wants you, and _only_ you. Not someone who cheats on you and doesn’t even care enough to hide it in the bar _where you work!_ “

“Yeah, well when you find someone like that, let me know.” Waverly barked out a laugh until Nicole took a step forward, her eyes fixed on Waverly’s, and Waverly’s breath caught in her throat.

“Wav-“

“Babygirl!” Wynonna shouted excitedly from down the hall, cutting off whatever Nicole was about to say as the woman took a step back. Waverly didn’t look at her sister, she couldn’t look away. Whatever Nicole had been about to say seemed important. “We got him, let’s go home!”

“Nicole…” Waverly reached out for Nicole, but she took another step back and Waverly deflated.

“Waves, did you hear me?” Wynonna asked as she strolled up beside the pair, oblivious to whatever she had interrupted. _Had_ she interrupted something?

“Yeah…yeah, I’ll be out front in a sec.” Waverly waved her sister off as she kept her eyes on Nicole who was backing up slowly. Wynonna huffed and left the two alone once again. “Nicole…”

“I have to go…” Nicole continued to back up as she worried her bottom lip between her teeth. She paused and took a deep a breath, offering a tentative smile. “But I meant what I said. You deserve better than him, Waverly.”

 

\---- 

Nicole woke up the next morning with a face full of cat fur and feeling like a total idiot. _Why_ did she think it was appropriate to say those things to Waverly? Was it the alcohol? Was it the fact that they were actually truly alone for the first time since the day they’d met? Was it the way that Waverly was looking at her…

No.

Waverly didn’t look at her any way other than _normal._ Even if she did, Nicole couldn’t think about that. Despite the fact that Waverly really did deserve better than that idiot boy-man who didn’t respect her, she _was_ still in a relationship with him.

And Waverly was an Earp. An _Earp._ Nicole could maintain a friendship with her, maybe Wynonna too, but even thinking about anything more with Waverly was ridiculous. It was downright stupid of her to entertain the idea that Waverly’s general level of fluster around Nicole was something to explore further.

Nicole just hoped Waverly wouldn’t be around the station that day when she made it into work. She was not ready to see her again and relive the night before. She was definitely not ready to face the truth that she wanted so badly to be that person she had described to Waverly.

She somehow managed to make it nearly two whole days without seeing either Earp. Revenant activity was either particularly high and the whole of Black Badge was out dealing with it, or it was somewhat low and they were taking it easy. She’d exchanged pleasant nods with Agent Dolls while the Earps appeared to be elsewhere, and he did seem to be appearing less hostile towards her after the whole “walking in to Black Badge treason fiasco”.

It wasn’t until Nicole was just about ready to head home one afternoon that the eldest Earp strolled in, eyes searching the bullpen for someone to accost. Nicole tried to avoid her line of sight but in doing so, she seemed to attract Wynonna’s attention even more easily. Wynonna bounded over and sat down with a huff.

“What can I do for you, Wynonna?” Nicole forced a smile onto her face, resigning herself to having to sit next to Peacemaker once again. Did she ever leave the house without that gun? No…probably not, it wouldn’t be the best idea.

“Take Waverly off my hands?” Wynonna huffed again and at Nicole’s confused stare continued. “She’s been ranting for the past two days! Champ this, Champ that. I’m glad she finally dumped his ass, but I can’t listen to her repeat the things I’ve been saying about him since high school anymore!”

“She broke up with Champ?” Nicole nearly choked. From the way Waverly spoke about his actions, Nicole never thought she’d actually do it. Not so quickly anyway.

“Yup!” Wynonna leaned back in the chair as she grinned. “Why? You interested?” She winked at Nicole and Nicole gulped. “Kidding Haughtstuff. I’m sure you’ve already got some _Haught_ chick waiting for you at home.”

“Hardly,” Nicole chuckled as Wynonna wiggled her eyebrows.

Nicole hadn’t been with anyone in decades. Living in the middle of nowhere did not exactly make for good wooing conditions. She’d been popular enough while she had actually been human and before she’d exiled herself as well, but one thing she had never done was sleep with a human after she’d come back. She felt that she could never do that without telling them what she was, and she couldn’t do that with most humans. She hated herself for having put quite a bit of time into thinking about how a certain person wouldn’t be shocked to discover that Revenants existed…the irony of that part being out of the way was not lost on her. 

Nicole had also found that she couldn’t be with another revenant, not anymore. A lot of years on earth had meant that more than a few had become a little more experimental with their sexual forays, but Nicole couldn’t handle their callousness long enough to find out if she could make it work. There had been one a long time ago she thought she might actually be able to see herself happy with, but when someone was only looking for sex, and you weren’t, it was never going to work out in the long run.

“Unless you count my cat?”

“That is definitely _not_ the type of pussy I am talking about.” Wynonna grinned and Nicole let out a snort as she laughed.

She really did like Wynonna, it was a shame that they technically were on opposite sides of a fight neither one of them chose to be in. Nicole was glad she had decided that if she was going to be sent down again, she wouldn’t fight it. The more she got to know Wynonna, the more she realised how impossible that would be.

“Maybe you could come over to the Homestead later? She needs some friends right now and obviously Steph is out, and Chrissy is stuck so far up her own ass these days she’s out too!”

“Um…” Nicole’s eyes grew wide. “I’m…busy? Tonight.” Nicole resisted every urge in her body to slam her head down onto her desk, she couldn’t have sounded more like she was lying if she tried.

“Jeez, ok! If you don’t want to come just say so, it was just a suggestion.” Wynonna pushed herself to her feet and Nicole immediately began shaking her head. 

“No, Wynonna. That’s not it at all I-“ Nicole didn’t know what to say, she had been getting along so well with the sisters that she hadn’t even thought about the day when this would inevitably happen. 

“Nicole…don’t give yourself a hernia, alright? It’s fine.” Wynonna clapped her on the shoulder before she walked off, leaving Nicole to nervously chew on her lip.

She couldn’t do this. She couldn’t maintain a friendship with either Earp and never go to the Homestead. They would eventually start to suspect that something was going on and if they worked it out before Nicole told them…well, she was sure she’d be back burning in hell before she could even blink.

She had to back off. She had to stay as far away as possible while still unfortunately working in the same building. She _had to_ forget about Waverly...for their own good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp...did I mention this is a lil bit of a slow burn? 
> 
> You can follow me on Twitter if you'd like @JNSbeth :D


	4. Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This week the chapter is solely from Waverly's POV, I hope you enjoy :)
> 
> As ever, huge thanks to @Luckywantstoknow for catching all my mistakes and just generally being an excellent beta!

Waverly had done it. She had _finally,_ actually done it. She looked Champ straight in the eye and told him that they were over. She couldn’t quite believe it.

The fear that she’d held onto that losing someone else would be too much to deal with after Curtis and Shorty was chased away by Nicole’s firm assertion that she actually deserved better. People had told her so before, and she was sure that they had meant it, but the sheer conviction with which Nicole had stated it...it flipped a switch in Waverly.

She was definitely happy about her decision, not so much about how Champ was so perfectly blasé about the whole thing. She hadn’t expected it to irk her as much as it had; wasn’t she at least worth a little fight? Not that she would have given him the chance to win her back anyway…

Wynonna was tired of her moaning, Waverly was pretty sure that had happened on the first day and since another had now passed and Waverly couldn’t help but keep bringing it up, Wynonna had left her to her own devices. Which meant that she was now alone, at the Homestead, with a bottle of whiskey staring her down. She hated drinking alone and she was not going to let Champ reduce her to that just because he was a total shit-ticket who didn’t know how good he’d had it.

She wasn’t the biggest fan of going to Shorty’s when she wasn’t working, most of the time she ended up feeling guilty when it got busy and would pitch in, but she certainly didn’t want that to happen tonight. Maybe what she needed to do was get too drunk to be able to help? It might not be her greatest plan, she _was_ an emotional drunk at the best of times and she knew her night definitely had the potential to go down that path-- even if she was mourning the death of an era of her life she’d rather just forget. Being in company was better than being alone.

She texted Wynonna asking her to meet her at Shorty’s instead of coming back to the Homestead, and to bring Doc. She even promised that she wouldn’t bring up Champ for the rest of the night. She didn’t expect to see Dolls even if Wynonna had disappeared earlier for a supposed meeting with him where Waverly wasn’t needed.

Waverly hadn’t thought until the moment her hand was pushing open the door to the bar that Champ could very well be inside, getting drunk off his ass and hitting on any girl that would pay attention to him. She supposed he did have the right to celebrate his newfound singledom, wasn’t that what Waverly should be doing too?

Even if she did happen to run into him, she wouldn’t let it bring her down. She was happy with the decision she had made, she took a deep breath as she opened the door, straightened her back, and decided that Champ would never again ruin her night.

After four drinks Waverly was definitely feeling it. Wynonna had appeared after drink number one, Doc trailing behind her and the three of them were now happily dominating the pool table.

She was having a great time, there was just one person she wished could have joined them. Wynonna had already said Nicole was busy when Waverly tried to casually bring her up earlier but with each drink, Waverly’s self-control was failing. She was desperate to use the number that Nicole had programed into her phone a few weeks ago, even if it was just to tell her that she was missing out on a great night and that Waverly would have loved it if she could join them.

She knew why...she wasn’t under any illusions that she didn’t find Nicole attractive, but she also knew she wasn’t about to just jump right into another relationship. _If_ that was even something that could end up happening with Nicole...

Wynonna and Doc managed to keep her just distracted enough to not pull out her phone and message Nicole but by some stroke of luck, just as Waverly was about to blow past the point of tipsy drunk right into confident as all hell drunk, Nicole pushed through the door to the bar. Waverly found herself staring almost immediately. She’d never had the pleasure of seeing the officer in anything other than her uniform, and Nicole wore her casual sweater and jeans combo _very_ well.

“Who is that?” Doc was suddenly standing beside her, and Waverly spun to face him, ready to warn him off but there wasn’t _that_ look in his eye.

“Nicole…Nicole Haught.” Waverly said dreamily, remembering the first time she’d heard those words spoken to her in this very bar. It must have been far too dreamily however because Doc cleared his throat and Waverly ducked her head, cheeks flushed as she cleared her own. “Why?”

“She appears familiar…” Doc narrowed his eyes before shrugging and talking a sip from his glass.

“Well, she is a police officer. You might’ve seen her at the station?”

“That could be it, yes.” Doc swirled his whiskey and turned back to his game with Wynonna.

Waverly caught Nicole’s eye as she stood at the bar and before she knew it, the alcohol she’d consumed had her smiling like an idiot. Nicole gave her a small wave and Waverly’s feet were instantly carrying her over to where Nicole was standing, looking more attractive than anyone had any right to.

“Hi.” Waverly beamed as she leaned against the bar beside Nicole, she could tell her face was flushed but she was really hoping Nicole would blame that on the drinks she’d had. “Plans fall through?”

“What?” Nicole asked before her eyebrows shot up and she took a sip of the beer just served to her, nodding. “Uh…yep. They...uh...fell through. Thought you guys were hanging out at the homestead tonight?”

“Change of plans.” Waverly shrugged. “I wanted to say thank you, by the way.”

“Thank you? For what?” Nicole brought her beer back to her lips, her eyes studying Waverly.

“I broke up with Champ…because of you.” Waverly smiled brightly, but when Nicole choked on her drink she realised how it sounded. “Oh, shit. Um…not like that, just…what you said, it helped! Made me realise I _do_ deserve better. Not that _you_ couldn’t be that better but I didn’t break up with him because of how I-“ Waverly snapped her mouth shut and Nicole’s lips twitched up into a smile.

“Well you’re welcome. I was a little worried I had overstepped…” Nicole stared down at the bar, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth, and had Waverly been more sober she probably wouldn’t have done what she did next but she wasn’t…and she did.

“I don’t think you could ever overstep with me, Nicole…” Waverly took a step closer to Nicole, the mild panic of nearly exposing her growing feelings for the woman disappearing and her need to let Nicole know she was perfectly comfortable with whatever Nicole wanted to say to her rising.

“Waves.” Nicole stiffened, and Waverly laid a hand on her forearm, hoping to calm whatever had her so worried. Waverly’s fingers brushed gently against Nicole’s skin, a little warmer than Waverly had imagined it would be and Nicole’s breath caught in her throat. Waverly could feel the hope blossoming in her chest, the looks, whatever Nicole had been about to say to her in the station that night, maybe it wasn’t all too good to be true but then Nicole began to shake her head. “You’ve been drinking, Waverly.”

“So?” Waverly leaned a little closer, her fingers wrapping around Nicole’s arm.

“You _just_ broke up with Champ.” Nicole looked her dead in the eye and Waverly took a step back.

That was a totally valid point and one she had made to herself. More than once. Nicole just…intrigued her. Made her forget that only days ago she was in a relationship. In that moment she simply wanted Nicole, or at least see what could happen if she was brave enough to go for it. It terrified her and excited her to no end…but she wasn’t sure she would have been so brave sober.

Waverly took another step back, taking her lingering hand with her. If she couldn’t do it sober, then should she really be doing it at all? Surely someone as nice as Nicole deserved better than that? She’d just totally made a fool out of herself. Newly single and practically throwing herself at Nicole, and Waverly wasn’t even sure if Nicole was interested.

“Sorry. I shouldn’t have…sorry.” Waverly shook her head and turned around, ignoring Nicole calling after her and stormed over to where she had left her drink by the pool table. She downed her own one first, then Doc’s after taking it right out of his hand...and then Wynonna’s that was sitting on the edge of the table.

Wynonna just looked at her amused, which only made her embarrassment grow. Had she seen what Waverly had done? Swallowing down the urge to explain herself, she went back down to the opposite end of the bar from where Nicole was still standing and ordered herself another three drinks.

Nicole came up beside her and Waverly tried not to focus on how warm her face was…or the fact her head was starting to spin, and her tongue was starting to feel a little too big for the inside of her mouth. Before she knew what was coming herself, Nicole had her by the elbow and was rushing her to the bathroom.

 

Waverly couldn’t think of _anything_ more embarrassing than throwing up the drinks she had just downed with Nicole right behind her. Having Nicole run her fingers through her hair though, that almost made it worth it. It made her feel safer and more taken care off than she could ever remember feeling.

“I didn’t mean to make you feel bad…” Nicole said softly, and Waverly smiled as she handed her a glass of water. When had she even grabbed that? “I just didn’t want you regretting anything you did or said…seems like you’ve had a fair amount to drink.”

“You’re really nice.” Waverly sighed before she downed the glass of water in one and leaned against the cold wall of the bathroom. It felt amazing against her cheek and she could have happily stayed there all night. “Wouldn’t have regretted it…don’t think. Depends what you would’ve done…?” 

“I wouldn’t have done anything Waves…” Nicole sighed, she was still running her hand through Waverly’s hair and Waverly wasn’t even sure if Nicole realised she was still doing it. “Doesn’t mean I didn’t… _don’t_ want to…but I…”

“What?” Waverly deflated.

“I need to tell you something…” Nicole’s whole posture changed, her hand fell from Waverly’s hair as she stiffened and looked away.

“Ok…what is it?” Waverly asked, not totally convinced she actually wanted to know. Whatever it was, it didn’t look like good news. Was Nicole in a relationship? Was she not interested in getting involved with someone who had absolutely no idea what they were doing?

“Not now.” Nicole shook her head as she took a deep breath and her focus reverted to Waverly’s face. “I need you to be in your right mind, ok?”

Waverly took a long look at how nervous Nicole seemed to be and decided that whatever it was, if Nicole needed more time and for Waverly to be sober when she said it, then she would be happy to give that to her. Waverly nodded and instantly Nicole seemed to relax, Waverly held her hand out for Nicole to help her up off the floor. She struggled a little getting to her feet and Nicole wrapped an arm around her waist to keep her steady.

“No one’s ever told me they thought Champ was cheating on me before…” Waverly sighed as she leaned heavily into the support Nicole was providing her. Waverly had always found out by accident or because he was too stupid or inconsiderate to cover his tracks. “You’re a good person, Nicole.”

“Mmm.” Nicole hummed, noncommittally. Even in her drunken state, Waverly could tell that Nicole hadn’t agreed with her assessment. She got out of the arm keeping her upright and stared down Nicole.

“You are a good person!” Waverly punctuated each word with a gentle poke to Nicole’s shoulder and a smile.

“Ok.” Nicole sighed with a small smile and pulled Waverly back in so they could keep walking. “I’ll see if Wynonna can drive you home.”

 

Wynonna groaned as soon as she saw her, obviously she didn’t want to go home and play big sister to her drunken little one.

“You sober?” Wynonna’s eyes narrowed in on Nicole.

“Um…yes.” Nicole’s whole body tensed next to Waverly and see looked up to see her jaw set like stone.

“Could you drive us home?” Wynonna lifted her glass and swirled the whiskey around before taking a long drink with her eyebrows raised. Wynonna had been drinking for a little less time than Waverly, but she was definitely too drunk to drive. Waverly was surprised that Nicole hadn’t thought that would be the case.

Doc took a step forward and looked at Nicole with an intense stare that Waverly had never seen him use on anyone before. She was trying to wrap her drunken brain around what was happening around her but all she could focus on was Nicole becoming progressively more tense beside her. If she didn’t want to drive all the way out to the Homestead with three drunken passengers, she didn’t have to.

“We can get a cab.” Doc broke the silence, his moustache twitching as he spoke. “You enjoy the rest of your night, Officer.” Doc nodded to Nicole who nodded back silently. “Come on, Waverly. Your sister can do the honours.”

Doc stuck his arm out for Waverly to grab and she latched onto it quickly. As she looked back to Nicole, she saw her wringing her hands in front of herself, eyes locked on the floor. Waverly so badly wanted to know what was wrong, but Doc began leading her out of the bar.

It wasn’t until they were outside, Wynonna calling a cab from the phone behind the bar that Doc properly looked at her.

“This Officer Haught is your friend?” Doc asked, his fingers running along the edges of moustache. Waverly had noticed it was something he did while he thought hard about something, but she couldn’t work out why he might be doing so now. Waverly nodded, just a little confused. Wasn’t it obvious that she and Nicole were friends? “Interesting…”

“Yeah, she is.” Waverly said dreamily with what she was sure was a dopey grin before she could stop herself and Doc’s face softened. A look of concern quickly took over though and Waverly could feel her heart begin to beat harder in her chest. Doc was from a different time, he might not be ok with Waverly being so clearly taken with Nicole. “I mean…”

“Be careful, Waverly. I am not sure that the Officer is all she may seem.” Doc said seriously, and Waverly could feel the anger bubbling up inside of her. Did he think that Waverly didn’t know Nicole was gay? Did he think that Waverly would care either way?

Waverly was just about to launch into an empowered speech with some twenty-first century education to teach him a thing or two about acceptance when Wynonna came out onto the curb with Nicole trailing behind, and announced their car would be arriving any minute. Waverly let out a deep breath as she decided that telling Nicole thank you for looking after her and saying goodnight was more important than getting into _that_ conversation while drunk. It probably would not have come off nearly as eloquently as she hoped it would.

“G’night, Nicole. Thank you for not letting me throw up all over the bar…” Waverly smiled shyly. She lowered her voice as she got closer even though Wynonna had already started a conversation with Doc about what they should do when they got back home. “We should do coffee…soon? You can tell me what you wanted to?”

“Y-yeah.” Nicole nodded as she looked over Waverly’s shoulder instead of meeting her eyes. “Yeah…soon. Goodnight, Waverly. Get home safe.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huh, I wonder what Nicole needs to tell Waverly...
> 
> You can follow me on Twitter @JNSbeth :D


	5. Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today has been a weird day but I've really been looking forward to posting this chapter so I'm very glad it's Tuesday again! You might find that odd once you've read it but I'll explain why in the notes at the end :) 
> 
> Huge thanks, as always to @Luckywantstoknow for beta-ing this fic!

Nicole could do this.

She could be honest with Waverly. She could tell her that she understood if she needed to tell Wynonna _and_ if she didn’t believe her that she wasn’t dangerous. 

Nicole just really hoped she would believe her.

She didn’t want to hide from Waverly anymore, but she did want to do what she came back to town to do. She wanted to help people, she wanted to stop the Revenants from hurting the ordinary citizens of Purgatory. Now that she had gotten to know both Waverly and Wynonna, she wanted to do more than that.

She wanted Waverly to know that despite what she was, she would never do anything like them, _be_ anything like them. She wanted to help break the curse and she had information that they would never get from another Revenant willingly.

She couldn’t do any of that if Waverly went straight to Wynonna to tell her the truth about Nicole.

The moment she saw Doc _freakin’_ Holliday happily chatting with Wynonna in Shorty’s, she knew it was only a matter of time before he recognised her. They’d only met the once, all those years ago but Nicole was sure he had recognised her. How could he not? She knew he wasn’t a Revenant…she had no idea what that made him, but she had been so panicked that she hadn’t even begun to question it until she’d got herself home that night.

The following day when he had cornered her in the station she thought it was over for her, but he had believed her intentions were true. His eyes told Nicole he was no stranger to seeking redemption, but he did leave her with a warning. Hurt either of the Earp girls and there would be no end to the pain Nicole would endure.

She didn’t doubt his conviction for a second.

She didn’t want to hurt Waverly but as she sat in the diner, waiting for her to arrive, she knew that that was probably exactly what was about to happen. She had lied. Whether by omission or not, she had lied about who she was, _what_ she was, and Waverly didn’t deserve that. Not while Nicole was simultaneously attempting to be her friend, and now Waverly had made it clear that Nicole’s feelings were not quite as unrequited as she had first assumed.

She couldn’t tell Waverly everything there at the diner, far too many ears, but she didn’t want to meet Waverly somewhere so secluded that if Waverly didn’t believe that Nicole had absolutely no intention of hurting her, Waverly would fear for her life. She thought they could just have a drink, then go for a drive.

She didn’t need to start work for a few hours, but she had her cruiser sitting outside. She figured that was the best plan, a car easily recognisable would not encourage the idea that Nicole planned to do anything nefarious.

Nicole was terrified, and she felt like every single pair of eyes in the diner was focussed solely on her, knowing exactly what she was just about to admit even though she knew that was ridiculous. She was scared but she also knew how important it was to tell Waverly the truth. Nicole knew that whatever was happening between them wouldn’t continue when Waverly found out. It would be easier to forget about Waverly then, Waverly would never want to be with her once she knew the truth. Nicole had accepted that, and she couldn’t string herself or Waverly along any longer. She just hoped whatever connection they had formed would allow Waverly to trust her enough to let her help them. 

When Waverly appeared, Nicole jumped up from her seat. She wasn’t sure how to greet her, but Waverly pulled her straight into a hug, pressed the lightest kiss to her cheek and Nicole melted into it. She quickly shook the feeling from her mind, she couldn’t let herself imagine. She needed to tell Waverly the truth and if she didn’t immediately turn her into Wynonna, Nicole would need to forget all about her feelings for Waverly.

“What would you like? I’m buying.” Nicole said as Waverly pulled her jacket and scarf off, setting them over the back of the chair.

“Wasn’t it me who asked you out for coffee?” Waverly smiled, and Nicole shrugged. The least she could do was pay for her drink before dropping a bomb on her. Waverly shook her head with a light chuckle. “I’ll have a peppermint tea, thank you.”

Nicole nodded and approached the counter. She looked over her shoulder as she waited for their drinks, Waverly was fiddling with her thumbs and worrying her lip while she waited for Nicole to return. They’d seen each other briefly since that night in Shorty’s but this would be the first time they would be able to talk openly about what Waverly had admitted in the bathroom. She had to be nervous and Nicole was filled with guilt that she might the first woman Waverly had ever thought about in this way, and now Nicole was about to sour that experience completely.

“I got to-go cups, I thought we could go for a drive in a bit?” Nicole said after arriving back at their table and sitting down. “Talk somewhere a little less…” Nicole looked around the diner, at all the Purgatory residents who she still felt were eyeing her suspiciously and Waverly nodded with a blush. Nicole felt guilty all over again, Waverly had no idea what was coming.

“Can we go now?” Waverly asked as she wrapped her hands around the paper cup.

Nicole hesitantly agreed. She had wanted a little more time to prepare herself…maybe even just a little more time before Waverly ended up hating her or being scared of her but maybe it was best to just lay everything on the table as quickly as possible.

Nicole drove a little out of town, she knew of a quiet rest stop with a bench where they could sit and watch the world go by. It was really just a few cows in a field across the road and the occasional car, but it was nice, and it was somewhere Nicole had frequented often when she needed time to think. Waverly was hopefully going to need some time to think…and _hopefully_ wouldn’t just pull out her phone and call Wynonna as soon as Nicole had told her the truth. 

“So?” Waverly asked after they were both sitting on the bench, Nicole too scared to actually start the conversation that needed to be had. There was so much hope in Waverly’s eyes as Nicole’s met hers and it took every ounce of strength for Nicole to follow through.

“So…” Nicole took a deep breath, she had rehearsed this but all of that felt useless now. “I had hoped I would have had more time before this needed to happen. I wanted more time to prove myself, to prove to you and your sister that what I’m about to tell you is the truth.” Nicole looked away, Waverly’s hope had quickly turned to confusion and Nicole couldn’t look at her if she was going to continue. “I know what you two do…what Black Badge is helping you do…”

“What?” Waverly sounded like she’d nearly choked on the sip of tea she’d just swallowed and Nicole turned back to check on her. Her eyes were wide, her face pale as she lowered the drink from her lips. “You know about…”

“Yes. I know because…” Nicole took another deep breath. This was it, there was no turning back now. “Because Wynonna’s gun…it’s meant for people like me. For... Revenants.” Nicole ended quietly, and Waverly jumped to her feet. She took a few quick steps away from Nicole.

“What?” All the remaining colour drained from Waverly’s face, her eyes filled with fear. Waverly uselessly brandished her paper cup like some sort of weapon and as much as Nicole wanted to rush to her, calm the fear that she’d _ever_ need to protect herself from Nicole, she stayed exactly where she was. She had to or else she would only cause that fear to grow. 

“I’m not going to hurt you, Waverly. I promise.” Nicole held her hands out in front of her as she spoke calmly. “I want to help, ok? You and Wynonna, she needs to end this curse and I-“

“You’re a Revenant?! How could you…why Nicole?!” Waverly was shaking, with fear or anger, Nicole couldn’t be sure but as she looked in Waverly’s eyes all she could see was unimaginable hurt.

“I did one bad thing in my life. Just one…but it was bad and Wyatt, he caught up with me eventually.” Nicole swallowed hard, she didn’t like talking about this. She had felt like she didn’t have a choice but there wasn’t a day that went by, even before she became what she was today, that she didn’t wish she had done things differently.

“You’re a Revenant?” Waverly asked again, quieter and Nicole sighed. She nodded and cast her eyes down to the ground. “I can’t believe I…” Instinctively Nicole’s head shot up, her want for Waverly gave her hope she knew she shouldn’t have and Waverly took another step back, her tea dropping to the ground from shaking hands. “How am I supposed to trust you?”

“Because I’m telling you the truth. I’d never hurt you, Waverly…I-“ Nicole shook her head, this wasn’t the time and it didn’t matter how she felt. She would never hurt Waverly regardless of how she felt about her. “I’ve never _wanted_ to hurt anyone but if you want to tell Wynonna then I won’t stop you. I’d understand.” Nicole dropped her eyes back to the ground. She didn’t want to see Waverly reaching for her phone, knowing it was coming was enough. 

Nicole heard Waverly begin to walk away and she looked up to see her, both hands stuffed into her jacket and marching down the road. Waverly wasn’t calling Wynonna…

Nicole jumped to her feet but stopped herself before she began to go after Waverly. She couldn’t _run_ after her, it would only scare her. She called out her name, but Waverly didn’t even turn her head. With a sigh, Nicole jumped back into her cruiser. She couldn’t let Waverly walk all the way back into town, taking her so far from town had probably not been the best idea. Nicole rolled the car slowly alongside Waverly and brought the window down.

“Waverly please, I’m not going to hurt you. Just get in the car and I’ll drive you home.”

“Well you can’t do that, can you?!” Waverly stopped walking and turned to face her. Nicole quickly pressed the brake and even going so slowly she still lurched forward as the car came to a stop. For a moment it looked like Waverly was concerned but she shook her head and folded her arms across her chest. “You can’t be on Earp land because you…” Waverly huffed before she began walking again.

“Waverly, if I wanted to hurt you I could have done it already! I’m not like the rest of them, I promise you I’m not!” Nicole called out the window, her desperation seeping into her voice.

“You lied to me!” Waverly spat over her shoulder as she threw her arms in the air, still storming down the road.

“Please get in the car, you can’t walk all the way back.” Nicole pushed the car forward again.

“I can and I will!” Waverly shouted indignantly, and Nicole rolled her eyes.

She pushed down the accelerator and pulled in front of Waverly before jumping out of the car. Waverly came to a stop as her eyes narrowed.

“I’m sorry I lied to you, Waverly but you must understand why I did.” Nicole said softly as she kept a respectable distance from the woman glaring at her. “But I’m not lying when I say I want to help, if I help you and Wynonna then you’ll both be free of this curse!”

“Why would you do that?” Waverly asked suspiciously. “There’s no way a Revenant would willingly go back to hell!”

“Maybe it’s what I deserve?” Nicole shrugged as if she didn’t know that to be the truth. “The least I can do is make sure that every single other Revenant is down there with me. Better than them being here hurting innocent people. Hurting _you.”_ Nicole quickly looked away. She would be lying if she said her feelings for Waverly hadn’t made her decision to help break the curse easier, but she hadn’t planned on making it so obvious.

Waverly didn’t say anything in response, she simply started walking around Nicole’s cruiser. Nicole was ready to start going after her again, but Waverly opened the passenger side door and climbed in. Nicole felt relief wash over her until she got into the car herself and Waverly looked her straight in the eye.

“Drop me at the station and then I _never_ want to speak to you again.”

Nicole’s chest ached but she nodded through the pain as she started to drive.

The journey back was silent. Waverly stared out the window and Nicole held back tears the entire drive. She didn’t realise it would hurt this much for Waverly to hate her. All she wanted to do was ask if Waverly was going to the station to tell Wynonna everything but that wasn’t fair. She’d know soon enough.

She’d made a promise that she wouldn’t fight it if that was what Waverly wanted but it didn’t mean it didn’t scare her. As she parked the car, Nicole knew what she wanted to say, she had a million things she wanted to say but she decided on one.

“I’m sorry, Waverly.”

“Yeah…me too.”

With that Waverly got out of the car and walked into the station without sparing a second glance behind her. 

As Nicole sat alone in the car, she finally let the tears come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Firstly, please don't hate me. 
> 
> Secondly, explanation. I've been looking forward to posting this because I absolutely hated writing Nicole lying to Waverly, even if she kind of had to in the beginning so I'm just glad that everything is out in the open now...even though Waverly isn't very pleased with Nicole. 
> 
> Also, I know this was a little mean of me to end this chapter right here, it really was the most natural pause. BUT you will not have to wait until next Tuesday for chapter 6, I'm starting my new job next week and I'll be away for a couple days (maybe more) so I figured the safest bet was to post on Sunday night just to save me worrying about when I'd have a chance to get the next chapter up! 
> 
> So I will be back on Sunday, until then if you'd like to scream at me you can follow me @JNSbeth on Twitter!


	6. Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone, here's chapter 6 a few days early as promised :) 
> 
> Time to see what's going on in Waverly's head now that she knows the truth about Nicole! 
> 
> Thanks to @Luckywantstoknow for being such an amazing beta!

Waverly was furious.

How could she let herself fall for Nicole? For a Revenant?! She had spent the days since their conversation in the bathroom of Shorty’s finally coming to terms with this part of who she was and now…

She felt like an idiot, even more so when the tears began to fall. She had practically thrown herself at Nicole that night, almost admitted exactly what she wanted without actually saying the words out loud and now she knew just how stupid that had been. Stupid _and_ dangerous. Wynonna would kill her if she knew. Wynonna would also kill Nicole if she knew…

Waverly was surprised to find that she simply couldn’t find it in herself to actually want that.

No one was in the BBD office when Waverly arrived, and she was glad. She had no idea how she would have explained her tears. She tried to work on some research but knowing Nicole was somewhere in the building, getting ready for her shift to start, she couldn’t concentrate. Her mind was going over every single interaction she’d had with Nicole since the day they had met.

Nicole couldn’t have been telling the truth when she said she wanted to help. Revenants were _evil._ They were monsters, they’d killed people, they’d tried to _kill her._ So why had Waverly never seen Nicole do a single bad thing in the time since she had met her? Waverly had never even seen Nicole lose her temper and she had told her herself that she was a good person. Waverly absolutely believed those words when she had said them to Nicole; there was nothing that Nicole had ever done or said that would make her think otherwise.

Unless that had been her plan all along? Lull them into a false sense of security before taking them out? That didn’t feel right…Nicole wouldn’t have told her what she was if that's what she wanted...would she?

Waverly couldn’t work out why Nicole had told her the truth…unless what she had said was actually true? Maybe Nicole _did_ want to help them break the curse... but it just didn’t make any sense. Why would someone willingly go back to hell?

Nicole said _“Maybe it’s what I deserve?”_ but what had she done to deserve _that_ ?

Nothing in Waverly’s research had ever turned up a Revenant Nicole, not the name and certainly not a picture. She could have easily changed her name, but Waverly would have recognised her. Waverly knew she needed to find out what she could about Nicole; if she knew what kind of monster she truly was then her conflicting feelings would cement into what they should be.

Waverly spent the next few hours poring over every piece of evidence she had for people she suspected but hadn’t yet confirmed to be part of the seventy-seven. At one point, Wynonna, Doc and Dolls strolled in but she barely registered their presence and said an absentminded goodbye as the three of them left her alone again. She was totally sucked in, she needed to know.

She eventually managed to narrow it down to a few newspaper articles she had found years ago. All referred to two female criminals, both potentially shot by Peacemaker.

One woman had killed her husband, and her children. Nowadays, she would no doubt have been diagnosed with a serious mental health condition and given the help she so obviously needed, but back then the town had simply turned on her when she began speaking of the voices she had been hearing, telling her to do unspeakable things. During her trial she had professed that she had saved her family from the evils in this world, that she had been protecting them. She managed to escape during her trial and was later found and shot by Wyatt Earp when she had fought against her recapture. Her name was Mary, she had been twenty-eight years old. The age seemed about right, even the physical description seemed similar to Nicole, but Nicole didn’t seem to fit the description of much else about the woman.

The other, an unnamed woman, seemed to fit Nicole a lot better and as she read over the final newspaper article she had found about her, Waverly became convinced. She had killed a man, a prominent businessman. His family seemed to have put up a substantial reward for anyone able to help catch the suspect based on the description from a single witness of the woman seen leaving his home on the night of his murder. Wyatt had been on the case and had eventually found who they believed to be the suspect with the tracking help of his friend, John Henry Holliday. She’d been holed up in a cabin in the woods for months and during their attempt to arrest her she had been killed. They never did find out her name, but she was estimated to be around twenty-five years old with red hair…

Waverly set down the newspaper clipping. Doc had warned her. He had recognised Nicole, he knew what she was or at least had an idea…Nicole was a murderer. A single murder, which was a damn sight better than most of the Revenants she had researched but still, she had taken someone’s life. What was stopping her from doing so again? 

Waverly looked at the time. Four PM. If Nicole wasn’t out on patrol she would likely be the only officer in the building. Nedley would be down at Shorty’s just like every day. She grabbed the newspaper clipping and headed straight for the bullpen to find Nicole sitting at the front desk, eyes squinting as she read the report in front of her. She set down the folder as Waverly approached and Waverly could see the worry in her eyes.

Waverly didn’t say a word, she simply set the article in front of Nicole and waited for her to read it. Nicole’s hand shook a little as she reached for it. She read it slowly, her eyes closing a few times as she did so before she set it back down in front of her.

“What do you want, Waverly?”

“Is that you? Did you really…” Waverly leaned closer, lowering her voice despite the fact there was no one else around to hear her. “kill that man?”

Nicole’s eyes darted around the room before she grabbed the clipping and walked straight into Nedley’s office. Waverly followed behind her and shut the door as Nicole quickly closed every single blind in the room. Was Nicole about to give her the answers she wanted and didn’t at the same time? Once Nicole seemed satisfied that no one would see them, she turned to face Waverly.

“Yes,” Nicole said simply.

“Why? Why kill him?” Waverly asked, she had to know.

“He hurt someone I cared about…someone I loved. I couldn’t…” Nicole blew a deep breath out through her nose and Waverly could tell it was not something Nicole found easy to talk about. “He was going to hurt _me_ and he wasn’t a good man, no matter what his family said! Money can buy a lot of things, but morals are not one of them!”

“So, it was self-defence?” Waverly asked quietly, trying to keep the hope out of her voice but when her eyes met Nicole’s she was sure she hadn’t managed.

“Not exactly…”

“What does _that_ mean?” Waverly huffed and pushed past Nicole to sit on Nedley’s couch. Nicole sat down beside her, keeping a distance that despite herself, Waverly didn’t want to be there.

“I could have left…I could have let him live but I just couldn’t. He would have just kept hurting other people and I wasn’t going to let that happen.”

“So, you _killed_ him?” Waverly shook her head, she was having a hard time reconciling Nicole, the murderer and Nicole, the woman who had always been so kind and caring as one and the same.

“Yes,” Nicole said firmly. “I wish I hadn’t, I wish every day that I hadn’t, but I was so angry, and he was so… _proud_ of what he had done. It made me sick.” Nicole’s voice began to tremble, and Waverly closed the space between them as tears began making their way down Nicole’s cheek. Waverly took Nicole’s hand in her own and squeezed it tight. Nicole wasn’t some monster, she had made a mistake and by the looks of things, regretted it with every fiber of her being.

“I’m sorry, Nicole.” Waverly turned to face her and wiped the tears from Nicole’s skin. Nicole’s breath caught in her throat as Waverly’s hand cupped her cheek and Waverly smiled. “I should have believed you. You wouldn’t have told me the truth if you wanted to hurt me.”

“I just wanted you to know who I am…what I am, before you…”

“Before I what?” Waverly asked, a good idea of what the answer was going to be. “Before I tried to make a move on you?” Waverly asked with a smirk and Nicole let out a watery laugh.

“Yeah…that.” Nicole laughed again as she shook her head. “I couldn’t in all good conscious let you do that when you didn’t even know me. Now you know, so I can stop waiting for it to happen…” Nicole shrugged as she gave Waverly a small smile.

Was it terrible that Waverly still wanted to? Still wanted Nicole, even now? It was probably stupid, the most idiotic thing she had ever wanted in her life because there was absolutely no way it could end well but she could not deny her feelings.

She couldn’t let herself doubt, she couldn’t let herself talk her out of it. Even knowing the truth, she had never wanted anyone the way that she wanted Nicole. It was why it had hurt so much to learn the truth but now she had the full truth and she thought she might be ok with it. She still wished it wasn’t true but if Nicole had never done what she had, Waverly would never be sitting where she was right now with Nicole inches away from her lips…

Waverly moved in so fast that Nicole didn’t even kiss her back at first. She worried she’d read it all wrong, Nicole didn’t want this, but then with a small gasp Nicole pulled her closer and their lips finally moved together. Waverly closed her eyes as she grasped at Nicole’s tight braid for some sort of leverage and she realised she’d wanted to do this from the moment she’d first laid eyes on Nicole. 

She wasn’t sure exactly how it happened, but Waverly ended up underneath Nicole. They were laid out on Nedley’s couch, kissing each other senseless and Waverly didn’t think she would ever get used to the feeling of Nicole on top of her. Her hands travelled up Waverly’s sides, her grip tight but not overly so and Nicole’s lips pressed against her own as small moans left Nicole’s mouth and Waverly nipped gently on her bottom lip.

“Waves…” Nicole breathed out as she pulled back from Waverly’s mouth. The way her name fell from Nicole’s mouth in that breathy rasp shot desire straight through Waverly’s entire body and she tried to pull Nicole back down. Nicole shook her head although it looked like she was fighting the exact same need. “Does this mean you…you’re ok with what I am?”

“I don’t know what to feel about it,” Waverly said honestly, she wasn’t _not_ ok with it. Nicole was still Nicole, kind and gentle and so unlike any Revenant Waverly had ever come across before. “I just know that I like you…”

Nicole smiled, the dimples that Waverly had only seen make an appearance on a few occasions coming out in full force and she leaned down to kiss Waverly again.

“I like you too.” Nicole said between kisses that were deepening and becoming more and more desperate like Nicole couldn’t quite believe this was happening. 

Nicole’s hand slid along Waverly’s thigh and as she pulled Waverly’s leg to wrap around her, Nicole pressed herself down into Waverly’s hips. The loud moan that escaped Waverly’s lips brought her back to the reality of exactly where they were, on Nedley’s couch in the middle of Nicole’s shift. Waverly gave Nicole’s shoulders a gentle push and Nicole instantly pulled back to put some distance between them, looking unnecessarily guilty.

“Sorry…”

“No.” Waverly shook her head, a smile tugging at her lips as she ran a finger down Nicole’s cheek. “That was totally ok…just maybe not for here?” Waverly gestured behind herself to the window that was serving as the only barrier between them and whomever might have wandered into the bullpen.

“Right,” Nicole chuckled in understanding. “I _should_ probably get back to work.”

“Could I…” Waverly bit down on her lip as she stopped herself. She knew what she wanted to ask, and she knew it was unlikely that Nicole would say no but she was still nervous. Nicole reached for her again, gave her a little nod and urged her to carry on. Waverly knew she should, she had already done the most nerve wracking thing she’d ever done in her life today, what was one more? She gestured between them. “Could I come over to your place one night? Soon? We could talk…about this, about us?”

“I’d really like that. How ‘bout tonight?” Nicole grinned as she pulled Waverly up from the couch. Waverly quickly nodded.

Waverly looked down at her clothes, more than just a little rumpled and she blushed. She hadn’t had a make-out session quite that heated in quite some time. She readjusted her top as Nicole helped to tame her tousled hair with a proud little grin.

“I’m finished at eight, I could drive you from here or…?”

“I’ve got my Jeep out front, I could meet you at your place?”

“Perfect.” Nicole pulled out one of her cards and grabbed a pen from Nedley’s old mug that was sitting on his desk. She quickly scribbled something Waverly prayed was an address and slipped it into Waverly’s back pocket as she pulled her in for one last kiss. “I’ll see you later.”

Nicole walked out with the biggest smile Waverly had ever seen on her face and Waverly fell back onto the couch with a shake of her head.

She was really doing this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... _that_ happened. 
> 
> I'm unsure yet whether I'll be posting the next chapter any earlier than next Tuesday but keep an eye on my Twitter @JNSbeth if you're keen to find out, I'm sure I'll post there once I've decided :D


	7. Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There was definitely something I wanted to write in the notes for this chapter but I've been travelling all day so my mind is total mush, if I remember what it was I'll add it in later! 
> 
> As ever, thanks to @Luckywantstoknow for beta-ing this fic! 
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

It had been over an hour since Nicole had finished work and arrived back at her apartment. Waverly still hadn’t shown up.

Nicole had been pacing for the last twenty minutes, Calamity looked up from her place on the couch every now and again, annoyed as only a cat could be at the disturbance before simply curling back into herself. Nicole wished she could be as calm as that damn cat; she was totally freaking out.

She was certain that Waverly regretted their kiss _or worse,_ had told Wynonna-- and now Nicole was exactly where she’d told Waverly she was going to be, and any minute Wynonna was going to burst through the door and that would be it.

Nicole didn’t want to believe that that was what had happened, Waverly wouldn’t have kissed her like _that_ if it was all just some scheme. Waverly didn’t have some diabolical plan to have Nicole let her guard down just to have Wynonna surprise her and send her back to hell…or at least Nicole hoped she didn’t.

Her pacing stopped as she heard a car door close on the street outside. Nicole then heard another, and her chest tightened. Waverly hadn’t come alone.

Nicole didn’t want to be caught off guard, she at least wanted to give herself a second to explain so she rushed to the door. She opened it to see Waverly making her way up the steps to her door and Wynonna climbing into the driver’s side of Waverly’s Jeep. Wynonna looked up at Nicole with a smirk and a wink as she closed the car door and started the engine back up. Nicole let out the breath she didn’t even realise she was holding. Waverly hadn’t told Wynonna.

“Hey…you alright?” Waverly asked as she got closer and Nicole realised how panicked she must have looked. Waverly glanced over her shoulder and realisation dawned on her face as Wynonna began to drive away. “Oh…shit, I didn’t think how that might look.”

“Yeah…” Nicole shook her head as she took a few deep breaths in. “You didn’t tell her then?” Nicole asked sheepishly; she hated that she even had to ask. She wanted to trust Waverly, she _did_ trust Waverly but the idea that Waverly actually trusted her was a little harder to grasp.

“Well, I told her something…just not _that.”_ Waverly blushed, and Nicole took a hold of her hand to pull her in close. Waverly giggled and allowed herself to be pulled, stretching up to Nicole’s lips. “Hi.”

“Hi.” Nicole pressed a quick kiss to her lips with a wide grin before she noticed the small bag over Waverly’s shoulder, just big enough for a change of clothes. “Um…”

“Oh.” Waverly ducked her head with a blush as she noticed Nicole’s line of sight. “I didn’t mean to assume…I just, Wynonna needed to borrow the car tonight and I…thought we might end up talking for a while so maybe I could…sleep on the couch?” Waverly winced; she looked totally embarrassed and Nicole couldn’t stand it.

“Hey…” Nicole pulled Waverly in closer and as she wound her arms around her waist, Nicole felt Waverly start to relax. She couldn’t believe they had gone from Waverly telling her she never wanted to speak to her again, to her telling Wynonna _something_ about them and being more than happy to spend the night. _On the couch,_ but still it was more than Nicole ever thought she would have with Waverly. “You are more than welcome to stay the night, any night, ok?”

Waverly nodded with a shy smile and Nicole took her hand, lacing their fingers together before she led her inside and took her bag and coat. Nicole watched as Waverly took in her place while she hung up her belongings by the door, a smile fixed firmly on her face as Waverly gently laid her hand on different pieces of furniture. Waverly let out a tiny squeal as she spotted Calamity sleeping on the couch and kneeled down to scratch her head. The cat instantly leaned into it and Waverly’s lips turned into the most adorable pout.

“How did I not know you had a cat?!” Waverly turned to her with mock outrage and Nicole chuckled as she made her way over to sit down on the couch beside Calamity.

“This is Calamity Jane.” Nicole patted the space beside her and Waverly bounced up off the floor to sit next to her. “I found her wandering around when she was a kitten all on her own, she’s been my best friend ever since.” Nicole knew it sounded terribly sad, but it was the truth, she wasn’t sure she would have been the same had she not found Calamity when she did. Waverly nodded as she reached over Nicole to give Calamity a few more scratches.

“Where were you living before here? No one in town knew you before you started working for Nedley…I may have asked around after we first met.” Waverly blushed before leaning into Nicole’s side and Nicole’s wide smile returned. She couldn’t believe how comfortable Waverly was around her and before she chickened out, she bit the bullet and put her arm around Waverly, holding her even closer. Waverly quickly settled into her side and Nicole took a deep breath before she delved into her past.

She told Waverly everything. How she had tried to fit in with the other Revenants at first, only to realise she wasn’t anything like most of them. She didn’t hold a grudge against Wyatt for making her what she was, she didn’t even hold a grudge against Josiah for sending her down again, he was just doing what he had to do. Waverly’s face screwed up as Nicole recounted that part of her story so she decided to skip right past what _that_ had been like, not that she particularly wanted to relive it either.

She eventually got to her decision to get away from Purgatory, to hide herself away, not because she was scared of getting sent down again by whatever heir was currently trying to end the curse but because she did not want to reminded of what she was every time she ran into another Revenant.

Waverly occasionally asked questions as Nicole recounted the last hundred or so years and Nicole was more than happy to answer them. She was even happier that while they talked they became even more entwined and ended up laying back on the couch with Waverly’s head resting on Nicole’s shoulder.

It had been a lifetime since she’d been so close to another person, physically or otherwise. Part of her thought she might wake up at any moment and that everything that had happened since she’d told Waverly the truth had been some form of torture designed to make her realise how little she deserved this.

“You know I’ll have to tell Wynonna eventually…” Nicole said quietly, she didn’t want to bring it up and break the spell the two of them seemed to be under but it was an inevitability that she had to face. They both did.

“I know…” Waverly sighed, as she tucked herself further into Nicole. “Maybe after you actually start helping us break the curse, that way she’ll trust you.”

“Yeah…maybe.” Nicole didn’t know all that much about Wynonna but from the time they had spent together, she didn’t feel like Wynonna was someone that trusted anyone easily. Nicole was going to have to pull out all the stops to prove to Wynonna that she was someone trust. “Why don’t we worry about that later?”

Nicole tilted Waverly’s chin up with a smile, they had already talked for well over an hour about serious topics and now all Nicole wanted was to feel like she had back in Nedley’s office. Waverly nodded as she licked her lips, her eyes trained on Nicole’s before she brought them together, and Nicole felt like she was floating. She didn’t know how many years it had been since she had held someone in her arms, but she did know that no one had ever made her feel like this with something as simple as a kiss. 

 

Nicole shouldn’t have been surprised when she woke up with Waverly tightly wrapped around her the next morning but as she slowly came to she could still barely believe it. As they had both started to fall asleep in the early hours of the morning, the idea of leaving Waverly to sleep on the couch was not something Nicole wanted and as she tentatively suggested they share her bed, Waverly blushed but eagerly nodded. 

After a few minutes of Nicole contently watching Waverly sleep, Waverly began to stir. For a moment she didn’t look like she knew where she was but as her eyes travelled up to meet Nicole’s, she smiled and Nicole couldn’t stop the wide grin that covered her face.

“Good morning. Can you stay for breakfast?” Nicole didn’t want to push her luck, she knew this was all still new between them but the idea of getting to cook for Waverly made her so happy she had to ask. 

Waverly nodded, her smile never fading as she pressed a kiss to the exposed skin on Nicole’s shoulder. She had worried about sleeping in her tank top, it didn’t exactly cover all that much compared to what Waverly had brought to sleep in but Nicole ran hot. When Waverly had bit into her bottom lip while watching Nicole take her shirt off though, Nicole knew Waverly wouldn’t mind and now she was so glad she had.

“What time are you on shift today?” Waverly asked in-between kisses to Nicole’s skin. Nicole swallowed hard, desperately trying to remember what time she was supposed to start.

“Uh…not until twelve.”

“Good.” Waverly hummed as she continued to pepper kisses along Nicole’s shoulder, up her neck and almost every single thought in Nicole’s mind was telling her to pull Waverly closer. 

“Waves…” Nicole didn’t want Waverly to stop and that was a problem. She wanted _more._ It had been so long since someone had touched Nicole and just the way Waverly’s fingers were sneaking up underneath her tank top was driving her insane. She wanted Waverly but she didn’t want to rush her into anything she might not be ready for. 

“Hmm?”

“As much as-“ Nicole cut herself off with a moan as Waverly took some of her skin between her teeth and pulled gently. “Shit…as much as I’m enjoying this…I don’t know how I’m supposed to stop.” Nicole took in a laboured breath, of course she would stop if Waverly asked her to but with every second that passed Nicole knew how much harder it would become.

“Then don’t,” Waverly said as she released the skin and trailed her tongue across the mark she had no doubt just made. Nicole might actually have to do up all the buttons on her uniform today.

“We need to talk about this...us.” Nicole cursed herself for not bringing it up the night before, what were they to each other?

“You like me…I like you. What else is there to talk about?” Waverly spoke between more kisses to Nicole’s neck. There was a lot more they needed to talk about, but Waverly’s hands were travelling further up Nicole’s body, she’d soon reach her breasts if Nicole didn’t stop her. Faced with Waverly’s obvious desire for her, she wasn’t sure she had it in herself to stop. 

“I-“ Nicole sucked in a breath as Waverly’s finger brushed over her nipple. She could feel Waverly smiling against her skin before she ran her finger over the stiffened peak again, this time with a little more pressure. “Shit…I don’t remember. There was _something.”_ Nicole laughed, and Waverly pushed herself up to capture Nicole’s lips.

Nicole pushed her hesitation to the back of her mind. Waverly wanted this, Waverly wanted _her._ She grasped Waverly’s hips and rolled them over; looking down she could see exactly how much Waverly desired this. Pupils blown, lip firmly between her teeth and her cheeks beautifully flushed.

“You’re sure?”

“Yes.” Waverly answered quickly. Her face serious before she smiled up at Nicole excitedly. “I want you, Nicole. _All_ of you.”

Nicole surged forward, the first person other than another Revenant to know what she truly was, and Waverly wasn’t afraid of her. Waverly wanted her anyway and Nicole had never been so grateful for anything in her entire existence.

 

It was over too quick, Nicole had been too eager to please and unable to help herself from falling apart under Waverly’s touch when she insisted on responding in kind. Waverly was a little nervous, Nicole could tell but when every touch had Nicole moaning the way that she did, it certainly boosted Waverly’s confidence and Nicole loved her proud little smirk. 

They lay intertwined, Nicole’s heart racing and chest heaving until Waverly’s stomach grumbled and Nicole remembered her offering of breakfast. Waverly trailed after her in one of Nicole’s shirts that _just_ about covered down to her hips. Nicole couldn’t help but stare after she’d set the pan down on the stove.

“What?” Waverly asked, ducking her head as a blush worked its way from her neck to her cheeks.

“You look really good in that.” Nicole beamed, she never thought she would have this again. This domesticity. She took a step towards Waverly and wound her arms around her, she wanted this for more than just one night and the morning after. “Do you think we could actually make this work?”

“I hope so…” Waverly wore a sad smile and Nicole’s eyes fell to the floor. Even if they did make it work, eventually she was going to end up hurting Waverly…she wasn’t going to be around forever. “Once the rest are gone, you could stay…as long as Wynonna is safe then you wouldn’t have to go. You deserve…” Waverly closed her eyes with a shake of her head and Nicole pulled her in closer.

“If something happens to Wynonna…then you’d be the one to have to break this curse. That is not something I want. She’ll just have to put me down as soon as I’m the last, it might be the only way!”

“Maybe…but I don’t want to think about that right now.” Waverly wrapped her arms around Nicole’s neck; the sadness in her eyes was killing Nicole but they couldn’t just pretend that this wasn’t an issue they had to deal with.

“We’ll have to come up with a plan…we can’t just wait and see.” Nicole cupped Waverly’s cheek and hoped she could see just how little Nicole wanted Waverly to be the one burdened with this curse. If Waverly had to be the one to put Nicole down…Nicole shook her head. _No._ That wasn’t going to happen. “If we can work out a way to get me into Black Badge, then I can protect her! Maybe we could convince Dolls to let me be like… the Sheriff’s department liaison?”

“How did you even become a cop?” Waverly cringed a little as she asked, she was changing the subject and as much Nicole really did want to talk about a real plan she wasn’t going to force Waverly to talk about it before she was ready.

“I had a favor to cash in…” Nicole accepted the change of pace in their conversation. “I managed to acquire the proper paperwork and Nedley was pretty desperate for a new deputy. He didn’t do much digging after he saw my ‘results’ from the academy.” Nicole air quoted with a guilty smile.

She had been ready to walk out of the station with a firm no but after the interview, Nedley offered her the job straight away. She knew her stuff, she had spent years thinking about and working out every single detail for her plan but still, there had always been a big chance it wouldn’t work. Thankfully, she didn’t have to worry at all and truthfully, neither did Nedley. Nicole was absolutely determined to do the job just as well as if she did have the formal training and a little superhuman strength and speed didn’t exactly hurt.

“I never would have guessed y’know? If you hadn’t told me…you really are a good person, Nicole.” Waverly’s arms tightened around her neck and she leaned up as she pulled Nicole down to meet her. She thought Waverly was going to kiss her but what she did instead was even sweeter. She brought their foreheads together, a small smile playing on her lips as she closed her eyes and threaded her fingers into Nicole’s hair.

Nicole didn’t feel like a good person, she hadn’t for a very long time but with Waverly Earp telling her so, and not for the first time, she started to believe she could be. Nicole closed her eyes as she sought Waverly lips and kissed her soundly. She didn’t mean for it to lead anywhere but before long, she had Waverly up on the counter top as she stood breathless between her legs.

Waverly looked at her, the same desire she had seen earlier clear as day in her eyes and Nicole couldn’t help herself. She slipped a hand between their bodies and slowly traced a path through Waverly’s soaking center.

“Waves…” Nicole moaned, the fact that the woman before her wanted her _this_ much still a revelation.

“You’ve had this effect on me for a while now.” Waverly admitted shyly, ducking her head but Nicole caught her chin with a finger and lifted it up, so Waverly could look her in the eye.

“Oh, you do the same to me.” Nicole beamed as she leaned in to capture Waverly’s lips, her thrusts persistent as she continued to bring Waverly closer to her release.

Nicole pulled back as she felt Waverly tightening around her, she wanted to watch as Waverly came by her hand. It was beautiful, the way Waverly gripped the edge of the countertop with one hand, her knuckles white and her face screwed up in pleasure while the other pulled Nicole closer.

“Kiss me.” Waverly begged, and Nicole held off just long enough to swallow the resulting moan as all of Waverly’s muscles pulled taut.

Waverly let out a small whimper as Nicole removed her hand and sagged back against the cupboards as Nicole brought her fingers up to her mouth to clean them off. She wasn’t sure she’d ever get enough of how Waverly Earp tasted on her tongue.

“Jesus _Christ,_ Nicole. Are you trying to _kill_ me?”

“Never,” Nicole chuckled. “Didn’t we already have this conversation?”

“Right…sorry.” Waverly giggled, she pulled Nicole down onto her lips for a quick kiss. “We really should have breakfast or you are never going to go to work.”

“I wish I could stay right here all day.” Nicole smirked as she pulled Waverly forward on the countertop before taking a step back and allowing Waverly to jump down. She latched onto Nicole to steady herself as her knees gave out just a little as she hit the floor. Nicole couldn’t help the proud grin that spread across her face and Waverly pushed her away with a roll of her eyes.

“Stop it.” Waverly warned, a smile threatening to break through her serious façade.

“Stop what?” Nicole asked innocently.

“Being so… _smug!”_ Waverly narrowed her eyes and seemed to be trying excruciatingly hard to maintain a pout but as Nicole pulled Waverly towards her it melted into a wide grin.

“Can you blame me?” Nicole tried to answer Waverly’s smile with her own, but she felt it fading. The intensity of the feelings she’d been holding for Waverly hit her square in the chest as she looked into the eyes staring up at her. It was like Waverly couldn’t believe someone was actually this happy to be with her. Waverly looked down to the floor as her own smile fell and Nicole’s chest ached. Nicole ducked her head to catch Waverly’s eye again and she lifted her gaze. “He didn’t treat you right, Waverly. I want to.”

Waverly took a deep breath and Nicole could have sworn she was forcing down a few tears as she nodded her head.

“You better.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since I made you all wait more than a week between chapters I'm going to post another chapter this week (although I do hope this chapter made up for that a little bit) I've not decided which day yet but it'll likely be Thursday or Friday and then I'll be back with another one next Tuesday :D 
> 
> You can follow me @JNSbeth on Twitter if you like!


	8. Eight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I said I'd get another chapter to you all this week and here I am delivering :D 
> 
> This chapter is from Waverly's POV. 
> 
> Thanks to @luckywantstoknow for being an amazing beta and keeping up with me even when I decide to be veer off from my one chapter a week schedule!

Walking into the station with Nicole made Waverly feel positively giddy. The only thing that would have made it better was if she had actually been holding Nicole’s hand as they pushed through the doors to the building, like she was desperate to do. Both of them had agreed though, before they knew exactly how they were going to figure out getting Nicole into Black Badge, they should keep things quiet. Nicole didn’t want Nedley thinking she was getting some sort of preferential treatment just because she and Waverly were together.

The smile those words produced from Waverly was blinding; it only grew when Nicole spluttered out a “sorry, I didn’t mean to assume” before Waverly happily told her to assume away. She wanted to be with Nicole, really be with her and considering they didn’t know how much time they might have together, Waverly wasn’t about to play any games.

She had come to that decision as she slipped into sleep in Nicole’s arms the night before. She worried that in the morning her bravery might wane but when she was greeted by Nicole’s smile as she woke, she knew what she wanted. She wanted Nicole and she didn’t care that they hadn’t been on a proper date or even spent more than a day truly knowing how the other felt, all she wanted was Nicole.

It had absolutely been the right decision. Nicole had made her feel things she had never felt before. Whether it was just a lack of skill on Champ’s part or a lack of care for how much pleasure Waverly actually experienced when they slept together, Waverly wasn’t sure. Either way, Nicole had shown her what it could be like when her pleasure was held with equal value to her partner’s.

She knew Wynonna was going to have questions, she hadn’t exactly been subtle about her excitement for going over to Nicole’s place the night before, even if she had genuinely planned to sleep on the couch. She hoped that she could speak to her sister in private and not in front of Dolls or more importantly Doc, if he was in the office when she arrived.

Waverly’s hopes were dashed when she walked through the door to BBD after a far too quick kiss with Nicole once they had checked their surroundings. Wynonna immediately threw a shit eating grin her way and slammed her hands down on the table in front of her, nearly knocking over her coffee.

“Sooo…someone looks like they had a good time last night,” Wynonna said, far too loudly, and both Doc and Dolls looked over to Waverly as she quickly closed the door behind her. She hoped that maybe Nicole hadn’t heard that, since there was no chance the men in the room hadn’t. 

“Can we talk about this later?” Waverly spoke through gritted teeth, overly aware of the look Doc was shooting her way.

“Spoil sport.” Wynonna scoffed and picked up her coffee. “I thought banging a hot redhead would have loosened you up a little.” 

“Wynonna!” Waverly hissed, and Doc’s eyed went wide.

“Jeez, _fine!_ Dolls, let’s go. If she’s not going to tell me anything now we might as well go speak to Bobo.”

“You’re going to speak to Bobo?” Instinctively Waverly panicked, she hated the idea of Wynonna being anywhere near him even if she did have back up.

“Pretty sure a Revenant has been snatching girls off the highway and I have a feeling Bobo knows exactly who’s doing it.” Wynonna had that look in her eye, that determination that sometimes scared Waverly a little, and it only had her worrying even more. 

“Why would he tell _you_ if he did?”

“Cause that way I won’t put a bullet through his skull?” Wynonna stated as she attempted to spin Peacemaker around her fingers and proceeded to drop it onto the table in front of her. She’d clearly been spending too much time with Doc.

“Smooth.” Waverly shot a sarcastic smile in her sister’s direction as she made her way over to the books Dolls was laying out on the table for her.

“We’re gonna talk tonight, you’re not getting out of it this easy!” Wynonna pointed at her sister as she scooped up Peacemaker and slid it into her holster. Waverly just rolled her eyes. “Maybe I’ll just go and ask Nic-“

“Ok, Wynonna!” Waverly yelled out in frustration. There was no way Wynonna would be speaking to Nicole. “We’ll talk later…at _home_ !”

“Good.” Wynonna wiggled her eyebrows at Waverly before she and Dolls headed out.

“Waverly…” Doc slowly walked over to Waverly as the door to the office closed.

“I know, Doc. I know…ok?”

“Now what, pray tell, do you know?” He removed his hat and pushed his hair behind each of his ears. Waverly didn’t like the patronising look he was giving her, like she didn’t know what she was doing.

“I know who Nicole is, what she is!” Waverly spun to look him straight in the eye, his shock obvious.

“I see…and that does not bother you?” Doc asked, his eyes widening questioningly.

“No!” Waverly snapped before she let out a sigh. “Well…a little, but not for the reasons you’re thinking. She’s not a bad person, she just made a terrible mistake. One terrible mistake!”

“I am fully aware of the mistake she made.” Doc shook his head as he took a deep breath. Waverly held her own as she waited for Doc to tell her that she was a fool or that Nicole was dangerous. She didn’t want to justify anything to him but she would if she had to. “She allowed us to find her.”

“What?” Waverly took a step back, that was not what she thought he was going to say. Could he really mean what Waverly thought he did? 

“I may be an excellent tracker, Waverly but I also know when I am being led somewhere and Officer Haught, she led your great-great-granddaddy and me straight to her.” Doc eyes went over Waverly’s shoulder, a far off look in them as if remembering that day. From what Waverly had read about Nicole’s attempted capture and subsequent death, it couldn’t have been an easy one.

“Why…why would she do that?” Waverly couldn’t wrap her head around what she had just been told but it did sort of make sense. No one knew who she was, where she was, and she probably could have gotten away with her crime. Why would she aid in her own capture…that ultimately led to her death?

“Your guess is as good as mine. It bothered me for a long time, trying to work why she did it and I have yet to find the right time to ask.” Doc sighed as his eyes focussed back on Waverly’s, a sadness she often saw when he thought of Wyatt. “I do not think we ever would have found her otherwise.”

“Did she…” Waverly shook her head, the idea painful just to think about let alone verbalise considering how it ended. “Did she want to get caught?”

“That is the only conclusion I have ever been able to come up with.” Doc placed his hat back on top of his head and took a step closer to Waverly, resting his hands lightly on her shoulders. “You may trust her Waverly, but I do fear Wynonna never will.”

“She’s going to help us, she’ll prove to Wynonna that she’s someone we can trust before we have to tell her.” Waverly stated firmly, even with doubt attempting to claw its way forward. “She won’t use Peacemaker on her…not until she absolutely has to!”

“I hope for your sake that your faith in your sister is founded.” Doc squeezed Waverly’s shoulders as his lips turned up into a sad smile. “I would hate for that light in your eye to dwindle and I will do my best to make sure that does not happen.”

Waverly took in a shaky breath and threw her arms around Doc. He stumbled back a little, no doubt taken by surprise at the gesture, but Waverly held on tight. She couldn’t thank him in words just yet, but she needed to show just how much she appreciated his support.

Once Doc left Waverly to her research, she tried not to let herself dwell on the thoughts running through her mind, Wynonna never trusting Nicole or the reasons why Nicole had led Wyatt and Doc to herself when she was in hiding. She had to figure out a way to get her involved in some cases without having to reveal what Nicole was and she would just have to wait to ask Nicole about what Doc had said. It wasn’t exactly a question she could ask in front of the whole bullpen. 

After nearly an hour of trying and failing not to worry, Wynonna and Doc burst into the office and it was clear immediately that whatever hopes they’d had of getting information out of Bobo had not come to fruition. Wynonna definitely looked a little more pissed off than Dolls and Waverly was just about to ask what had happened when Wynonna held up her finger to Waverly and shook her head. Wynonna took a deep breath as she closed her eyes.

“Don’t…do _not_ speak to me right now.” Wynonna’s jaw was tight, and Waverly gulped. What the hell had happened with Bobo?

“Wyno-“

“Is there something you’d like to tell me, Waverly?” Wynonna opened her eyes to glare at Waverly and her heart kicked into overdrive. Shit. She knew. Bobo knew what Nicole was, he had to have said something. Wynonna _knew_ and Waverly was stuck between trying to reason with her sister and running out of the office to check that Wynonna hadn’t already shot Nicole down.

“Um…” Waverly tried to school her features away from absolute panic, but she couldn’t stop her eyes from darting towards the door. Wynonna couldn’t have taken Nicole out in the middle of the station…Waverly would have heard something. 

“Did you go to the trailer park last week? _Alone?!”_ Wynonna yelled, apparently not content to wait for Waverly to speak up and Waverly sunk back into her seat, utterly relieved. Wynonna _didn’t_ know. She knew Waverly had done something extremely stupid, but not about Nicole.

“Yes. Sorry…” Waverly winced, and Dolls retreated to the safety of his office as he shot Waverly a look that told her to brace herself for Wynonna’s wrath. “I needed a picture for my board.” Waverly waved her hand in the direction of the cork board that had slowly but surely been getting more and more full since Waverly had gained the resources of Black Badge.

Her plan _had_ been to get in and out of the trailer park without being seen. She thought she had managed to do just that but…apparently not.

“Jesus, Waverly. Do you not know how stupid that was?! You could have-“

“I know. I…I didn’t think anyone would see me, I didn’t think anyone _had!”_ Waverly bowed her head, she knew it had been risky before she’d even done it but asking Wynonna to go in and get the photo she needed would probably have taken far longer than just doing it herself.

“Well someone _did!”_ Wynonna grabbed Waverly by the shoulders and Waverly looked up to see just how terrified she looked. “Please don’t do that ever again, I’m not losing you too!”

“I’m sorry…” Waverly looked down at her hands in her lap; the guilt of looking into Wynonna’s frightened eyes was too much. Wynonna sighed and leaned forward to press a quick kiss to the top of Waverly’s head. “I won’t go back, I promise.” 

“Thank you. Now, come on.” Wynonna pulled Waverly out of her seat and thrust her coat into her hands. “We’re done for the day and you still owe me some answers.”

 

Wynonna’s questions were relentless. Waverly had never once asked for nearly the amount of detail from Wynonna after she’d been with someone, and Wynonna was clearly enjoying watching Waverly get embarrassed far too much.

“Do you really want to know this stuff?” Waverly was growing frustrated, she closed the door to her Jeep a little harder than necessary before stomping up the steps to the Homestead.

“Last question? I promise.” Wynonna smiled sweetly as she bounced up the steps behind her and despite Waverly’s huff of protest she gestured for Wynonna to ask away. Waverly was honestly just happy that Wynonna didn’t have a problem with her being with a woman, not that she thought she would. “Does she deserve you? Cause Champ sure as hell didn’t and I’d really rather not have to threaten a cop now that I’m all deputised and shit.”

“She does.” Waverly nodded, firm and sure. She wasn’t sure that Nicole believed that herself just yet, but she would.

“Good.” Wynonna pulled her in for a hug and kissed her forehead sloppily. “Now…how are we going to keep her safe from all the shit this town likes to throw our way?”

“Uh…” This was Waverly’s shot to get Nicole involved and she was going to take it. “I was thinking she might be able to help us actually, she’s a really good cop and she’s…already kind of got a lot of the Revenants on her radar thanks to their criminal tendencies.” Waverly hoped her lie was believable. Wynonna narrowed her eyes and Waverly held her breath until her sister shrugged.

“We’ll see what Dolls says tomorrow. Might be useful to have an extra pair of hands as long as she doesn’t freak out when she finds out the truth.” Wynonna slung her arm over Waverly as they crossed the threshold and Waverly tried her hardest to loosen the tension in her shoulders. 

“Yeah…fingers crossed.” Waverly replied coolly. The plan was in motion. Nicole would win Wynonna over in no time and when the time came for her to reveal herself, Wynonna would listen. She wouldn’t just send someone who had been instrumental in helping them bring down the rest of the Revenants straight to hell.

Waverly was ready to delve into her planned relaxing evening, maybe read a book for fun instead of for research for a change and then call Nicole when she knew she’d be finished with her shift, and they could talk about what Doc had said earlier. She hadn’t been able to get the idea of Nicole purposely allowing herself to get caught out of her mind. Nicole had already told her she thought she deserved what was waiting for her when Peacemaker would have to put her down again…had she believed she deserved to be caught in the first place? Surely she couldn’t have known that she would end up being shot by Peacemaker that day.

She had just put the kettle on to boil for a cup of her favourite tea when her phone began to buzz in her pocket and she smiled as she read the name on her screen. Nicole shouldn’t have been finished with work for at least another hour but maybe she found the time to call while out on patrol.

“Hey!” Waverly answered cheerily but the rough laugh she heard on the other end of the line ripped the smile from her face. “Who is this?”

“Hello, Waverly.”

“Bobo…” Waverly’s blood began to boil. “Why do you have Nicole’s phone?”

“Well…it kind of came with the package.” Waverly could practically see the evil grin that would be on his stupid face. He couldn’t kill Nicole…that was the only thing keeping Waverly from completely freaking out, but he could still hurt her and that was not something Waverly wanted to happen. “I think we’ll be hanging on to her for a while.”

“You…asshole!” Waverly could feel herself shaking as her mind began to run through everywhere that he could be keeping her. Trailer park was too obvious...she knew she had a list somewhere of places Bobo liked to store things. 

“Careful, Waverly.” Bobo said slowly and the way her name fell from his lips made her skin crawl. “I would hate for some harm to come to your little girlfriend.” Bobo’s intention was clear, he wanted Waverly to fear for Nicole’s life…which meant he didn’t know that Waverly knew. She wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of thinking he could scare her that badly.

“You can’t…” Waverly looked over her shoulder, Wynonna hadn’t seemed to have noticed she was on the phone. She lowered her voice anyway. “I know you can’t do that Bobo…I know what she is.”

“Oh.” Bobo sounded genuinely surprised and Waverly was proud that for once she had the upper hand with him. “Well…doesn’t mean I can’t make her scream though now does it?”

Waverly heard him say something, she couldn’t quite make it out but then she heard what was unmistakably Nicole’s pain filled scream coming down the phone and she covered her mouth. She was not about to let Bobo hear her cry.

“We’re going to find out where you’ve taken her and Wynonna is going to shoot you right between the eyes! You hear me, Bobo?!” Waverly was yelling now, her anguish quickly morphing into anger at the man who had caused her so much pain in her life already. He was not going to get away with causing her any more. All she heard was a short laugh before the call disconnected and she was left panting in the kitchen.

“Did you just say Bobo?!” Wynonna ran into the kitchen and Waverly spun round. The tears in her eyes spilled over as she clutched her phone to her chest.

“He’s got Nicole.” Waverly choked out.

“Well, shit.” Wynonna’s eyes went wide with panic and concern until the determined look was back and Waverly had never been more thankful for it. Wynonna’s hand came to rest over Peacemaker and she gave a firm nod, Waverly desperately hoped that it meant she didn’t need to worry. “I’ll call Dolls.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooof, I know...but aren't you glad you don't have to wait a week until the next chapter? *nervous smile* 
> 
> For real though, I honestly didn't know what to expect when I started posting this fic but you have no idea how happy I am that people are actually enjoying this and want to keep reading! All your comments and kudos are so SO appreciated, I could go on and on about how much being a part of this fandom means to me but I'm sure a lot of you feel exactly the same way so you get it :D 
> 
> If you like, you can follow me on Twitter, I'm over there @JNSbeth


	9. Nine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now to find out what happened to Nicole...
> 
> Thanks as always for @luckywantstoknow for beta-ing this fic!

A routine call _my ass,_ Nicole thought sarcastically to herself, as she was dragged out of the trunk of whatever car she had been bundled into practically the minute she’d arrived on the scene of a supposed burglary.

She’d been having a quick look up at the windows on the upper floor of the house, certain she’d seen some movement, when something or rather _someone_ had struck her from behind. She’d woken up an unknown amount of time later, her legs cramped from the small space she’d been forced into and pieces of sharp plastic digging into her side from what she could only assume was her radio, now presumably shattered and not working. Thankfully her head didn’t seem to be killing her even after the pretty hefty blow it had received. Small mercies, she figured.

Nicole recognised everyone looking down at her in what seemed to be an old warehouse, definitely abandoned by the looks of things. She had a vague idea of where exactly in Purgatory she was, there weren’t that many buildings of this size in such a small town and even fewer that were currently unoccupied by some business or another. Each pair of eyes that were on her belonged to Revenants she had avoided for decades, and she was not appreciating the sick grins on their faces.

“What do you think you’re doing playing cop?”

“Think you’re better than us, huh?”

“How’d _you_ manage to get an Earp in the sack?”

Nicole had been ignoring their questions, each of which came with a swift kick to her stomach, but she was not about to ignore _that._ She lunged forward with a growl, despite her hands being bound behind her back. A couple of them jumped back with a chuckle, knowing full well what little damage she could do to them in her current state.

She could feel the heat radiating from her forehead, she knew her brand was showing and as much as she hated the sensation, right now she didn’t care. _They_ didn’t get to talk about Waverly. Not like that, not like she was some _thing_ .

“So nice to see the _real_ you.” Bobo pushed through the crowd and hunched down to look at her. He reached out and grabbed her chin; she struggled uselessly against him as his sharp nails dug into her skin. “What’s the use in pretending? You know what you are.”

“I’m nothing like any of you!” Nicole spat out, and Bobo pushed her away.

“Believe what you want but now that you’re all up in dear, sweet Waverly’s… _business_ …” Bobo’s mouth turned up into a grin as he stood to his full height and Nicole felt like she might actually be sick. How had they even found out? Did Bobo have someone following her every move? That wouldn’t actually surprise her…Nicole knew too much for someone not willing to align themselves with him and now she was friends with the heir and... _more,_ to Waverly. “I can’t have you running your mouth to the Earps!” 

“I just want a normal life.” Nicole lied, hopefully more convincingly than the last time she and Bobo were face to face.

“And _I_ want to go back to hell.” Bobo growled sarcastically, not buying Nicole’s line for a second.

“Someone at the station is going to notice I’m missing, Bobo.” Nicole was clutching at straws, she doubted that Bobo cared enough to cover his tracks, but she had a tiny sliver of hope.

“I did think about that.” Bobo lifted something out of his pocket and spun it in his hand. Her phone. “If they call, you’re going to tell them you’ve had to go away for a while. Family emergency, they think you have one, right?” Bobo grinned again, and Nicole’s nostrils flared. _Shit._

She’d told Nedley her family life was complicated, that’s why she didn’t have anyone to put down as her next of kin, but she had stupidly said something to the effect of her parents being alive and well but she simply didn’t speak to them anymore. He hadn’t pushed her on it, no doubt reading her nervousness at being discovered as something else entirely. A family emergency though…he might just buy that she’d speak to them then, no matter how estranged. Nicole had to come up with something, she had to make Bobo rethink whatever it was he planned to do with her.

“I was supposed to see Waverly tonight…after my shift was over. She’ll know something is wrong!” Nicole knew her plea was bordering on desperate, but she was. The longer she was missing the more likely it was that someone would come looking for her, and that did not bode well for her secret.

“Well then…I’ll just have to let her know you won’t be making it.” Bobo scrolled through her phone and quickly found what he was looking for. She knew it wouldn’t take him long, she did only have a few numbers programmed into the damn thing.

She heard the yelling on the other end and she tried to stand, to rush Bobo, but three sets of arms held her down and she watched as their eyes filled with glee at Bobo’s order before a knife was plunged into her stomach. She screamed, and she hated herself for it; she didn’t want to give them the satisfaction but the pain was too much.

Nicole gritted her teeth as she saw Bobo hang up the phone and slide it back into his pocket. The bastard had made sure Waverly heard her scream before he hung up, she just knew it. Bobo’s eyed her curiously and she took deep breaths to fight against another scream building in her throat every second the knife pressed against her insides.

“You told her.” He looked like he couldn’t quite believe it, he shook his head and bent down in front of her. “Was that before or after you had your way with her?”

Nicole screamed against the pain in her stomach as she lunged forward again, managing to get out of the hold on her just in time for Bobo to swing his fist up. Her head flew back, colliding with the concrete and her vision went black. 

She woke up an unknown amount of time later and this time her head really did hurt. She’d heal fast enough but remembering the sound as her head hit the ground, she knew it would definitely take a little time to get over.

She was tied down to a chair now, the knife thankfully out of her side and the pain subsided, but the restraints they’d put around her wrists were far too tight. She would be worried about her circulation if it’d actually do any real damage, for now it was just cruelly uncomfortable. The ones no doubt responsible for it noticed she had roused and stopped whatever hushed conversation they’d been having. Nicole narrowed her eyes.

“Where’s Bobo?” The first thing she noticed once her head had stopped spinning was he wasn’t around. In fact, all of the men sitting around the shoddy table surrounded by equally crappy chairs were pretty low on Bobo’s list of confidants the last time Nicole checked. No more than grunts. 

“He’ll be back. Told us to keep you quiet so I’d do that if you don’t want this.” The man lifted up his gun from the table, Nicole hadn’t noticed it before. She huffed out a breath and quieted down, she really did hate the feeling of a bullet ripping through her flesh and the healing was never fun.

What exactly was Bobo’s plan here? Keep her tied up? Until when, exactly? Until he’d taken out Wynonna, Waverly too? Nicole knew she had to figure out a way to get out of there, she couldn’t protect them while strapped to a chair and if someone came looking for her…if _Waverly_ came looking for her, she’d only be in danger. The Revenants before her might have been grunts but they were still more than capable of hurting anyone that came to Nicole’s rescue.

Nicole heard something from the depths of the warehouse…like a door handle turning, squeaky and slow. Her head turned in the direction it came from, keeping one eye on the table in front of her and listening out for any further sound. No one else seemed to have heard what she had, they’d returned to the game of cards they were playing. Her head turned further, to check if she could see where the noise had come from and she saw a door at the far end of the warehouse, sitting ajar.

There was no way to know if it had been open before now or not. As much as she wanted someone to have come to get her out of there, if Waverly or Wynonna had come then they had to be quick, _before_ Bobo returned.

Turning back to the table, Nicole let herself hope that someone, anyone, had come for her. There wasn’t much she could do still tied up to help, but she could keep the attention of the idiots in front of her for a while.

“What are you playing?”

“What does it look like?” He didn’t even bother to turn and look at her as he threw his cards down onto the table, folding on his hand.

“Never really been one for card games.” Nicole attempted to shrug but her restraints made it difficult and she gritted her teeth against the pain in her wrists. One of the men snickered at her and she relaxed back into the chair as best she could. She did not want to provide them any more entertainment. “Who’s winning?”

“I am!” Earl, if Nicole remembered rightly, proudly announced before another Revenant that Nicole couldn’t quite remember the name of, hit him square in the chest.

“Bobo said not to talk to her.” He snarled at Earl as he rubbed at his chest and a glint of light caught Nicole’s attention out of the corner of her eye.

“Then why don’t you talk to me?” Wynonna strode forward, cocking Peacemaker and firing before any of them had a chance to scramble. Nicole stared wide-eyed as one by one they all got dragged down, the flames calling for her and sweat pouring off her brow.

“Hey, it’s ok. You’re ok.” Arms encircled her, and she sagged back against the chair. She hadn’t noticed just how desperately she’d been trying to escape it. “Look at me.”

Nicole did as she was told, turning her face away from her inevitable future to see Waverly looking at her with concern. She melted instantly as Waverly leaned her forehead against hers and whispered “I’ve got you” over and over while running soft hands across Nicole’s cheeks. Nicole’s chest was still heaving, but she could have cried with how cared for she felt under Waverly’s hands. 

“Well…guess the jig is up.” Wynonna sighed, holstering her gun and walking over to them after she’d dispatched what she presumed to be the last Revenant in the building. Nicole stiffened for a moment until she realised what Wynonna was referring to.

“Uh…yeah. What the hell was that?!” Nicole asked with exaggerated shock. Waverly had a small smile on her face as she knelt down to start undoing the belts holding Nicole in place and Nicole tried to control her own expression.

“How about I explain later?” Waverly leaned up as soon Nicole’s hands were free and placed a kiss on Nicole lips, maybe to cover the smile threatening to show but Nicole hoped Waverly just _really_ wanted to kiss her.

“Yeah…you guys do _that._ Dolls just pulled up outside and he is _not_ happy.” Wynonna stalked towards the main entrance, pocketing her phone and straightening her jacket.

“Sorry!” Waverly called after her sheepishly, and Nicole quirked an eyebrow. Waverly moved in closer, ready to whisper in her ear. “I sort of made her come in before he got here…”

“Waverly…” Nicole sighed as she turned her wrists over, already starting to feel better. “You know I wasn’t in any real danger…you could have waited!”

“I wasn’t going to sit around and let them hurt you! Even if they can’t kill you, Nicole!” Waverly stated indignantly, crossing her arms over her chest. Nicole finally stood from the chair and wrapped her arms around her, trying not to smile at the adorable pout Waverly was wearing.

“Sorry…thank you, baby.”

“Baby, huh?” Waverly’s pout cracked into a smile and Nicole blushed furiously as she looked down at her feet. It had just slipped out, she really didn’t know where it had come from and she certainly didn’t know if they were _there_ yet.

“Sorry I-“

“No…I like it.” Waverly uncrossed her arms and ran her hands along Nicole’s. “ _Baby._ “ She teased and Nicole rolled her eyes with a smile.

“Can we get out of here before Bobo decides to come back?”

“Of course.” Waverly took Nicole’s hand with a quick nod and they made their way towards the entrance.

“What time is it anyway? I was passed out for…a while.” Nicole winced as Waverly turned to look at her with even more concern in her eyes than when she first got to Nicole. Waverly squeezed Nicole’s hand tighter as she shook her head, Nicole hoped she was shaking any worries about Nicole’s well-being away because really, she was _fine._ A little out of sorts but physically, nothing they could have done to her wouldn’t have healed eventually.

“It’s almost two in the morning…”

“Shit. I’m supposed to start at nine.” Nicole groaned but she did have to admit she was happy that Bobo had knocked her out. She hadn’t had to lie to Nedley if he’d called…not yet anyway. She’d need to come up with a reasonable explanation for going missing for the last few hours of her shift...and get herself a new phone. “I don’t know how I’m going to explain this…”

“Dolls said Nedley was totally freaking out about you when you didn’t call in, but he told him the burglary call was actually a BBD case...and that you were reporting to him.”

“Yeah?” Nicole could feel her excitement growing, did that mean Dolls was on board with her joining the team in reality? 

“Yeah.” Waverly nodded, a small grin on her face, maybe she was thinking the exact same thing? “Maybe next time you can actually work a case with us, instead of _being_ the case!” 

“Yeah, maybe…” Nicole couldn’t help but get her hopes up, it would be the best outcome from such a shitty night if it led to her becoming a real part of the team. 

As Nicole and Waverly got closer to the door, Nicole could feel her exhaustion setting in and all she could think about was her bed. “Can you drive me home? I should probably get a couple hours sleep.”

Even if Dolls had told Nedley it was a Black Badge case she’d been brought in on, it didn’t exactly excuse her from checking in at the station. She was going to need every bit of rest she could get to help her face Nedley in a few short hours, just in case he was pissed. Waverly nodded, but Nicole could see disappointment in her eyes.

“You can stay…if you want?”

“Yeah…I’d like that.” Waverly wrapped her arms tightly around one of Nicole’s and leaned heavily into her side as they made it outside. Both of them greeted Dolls, who seemed to have been calmed down by whatever Wynonna had said when she’d come out of the warehouse.

By the time they made it back to Nicole’s apartment, she was dead on her feet and all she wanted to do was curl up with Waverly in her arms, but Waverly hovered by the foot of the bed as Nicole got out of her uniform. There was a tiny crease between her brow and she was fidgeting with her hands, something was clearly bothering her. Nicole sat down on the edge of her bed and held out her hand for Waverly, she took it and sat down beside her before Nicole slung an arm over her shoulders and asked what was wrong.

“Doc said something earlier…it’s been bothering me all day…” Waverly began to play with the edge of Nicole’s sleep shorts and Nicole simply allowed her the time to get whatever it was she wanted to say out. There were a lot of things that Doc could have said… “He said that he thinks…no, he _knows_ that you led Wyatt and him straight to you.”

“Oh.” That wasn’t what Nicole had expected…she never thought they’d noticed or even cared. “I…did.”

“Why?” Waverly asked, and from her pained expression she clearly didn’t think Nicole had made the right choice. At the time she thought it had been so clear; she knew she needed to face justice…she needed to make the guilt that was driving her insane stop, even if she was glad the man was gone from this world. She told Waverly as much but that didn’t seem to lessen the anguish. “You could have lived, you could have…you didn’t need to become…”

“I know…” Nicole sighed, she probably wouldn’t have made the same choice if she’d known exactly what her fate was going to be. “My plan wasn’t to _die_ … I thought they’d just arrest me and then I could confess to what I’d done. When Wyatt drew Peacemaker I panicked, and Doc and my gun were right there. I shouldn’t have threatened Doc, as soon as I had my gun against his head I knew it wasn’t going to end with me leaving there alive.”

It didn’t seem like Waverly could say anything in response, and Nicole couldn’t think of anything that she would say to extinguish the sadness in Waverly’s eyes. Nicole had sealed her own fate that day without even knowing it, a life of hiding who she was, _fearing_ who she was and what she was capable of, but now...she had Waverly. Nicole couldn’t be sure that she would choose to go through all of that again, but every moment she got to look into Waverly’s eyes and see that she, exactly as she was, mattered to at least one person, she thought she just might.

“How about we get some sleep?” Nicole stilled Waverly fingers that had continued to fiddle with her shorts by intertwining their fingers. Waverly nodded with a deep sigh that turned into a yawn at the mere mention of sleep. A smile tugged at Nicole’s lips despite the night she’d just endured, and after finding a t-shirt for Waverly to sleep in, that she was sure she wasn’t getting back, they lay nestled together under the sheets.

“You _are_ ok, right?” Waverly spoke just as Nicole was right on the edge of sleep. She forced her eyes open and saw Waverly staring at her, worried eyes looking over every inch of Nicole’s face in the dim light of the approaching sunrise. “They didn’t do anything really awful to you, did they?” 

“I’m ok.” Nicole pulled Waverly closer, tucking her head under her chin so she would stop her assessment and relax. She thought about telling Waverly about the knife they’d used to hurt her, but the wound had healed, and Waverly didn’t need anything else to worry about. “I promise.”

“Ok…good.” It sounded like Waverly had finally relaxed, her shallow breaths tickling Nicole’s neck but not enough to keep her from sleep. Nicole managed to place one quick kiss to Waverly’s head before she slipped off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again to everyone reading this and commenting/leaving kudos! They are so lovely to read :) 
> 
> I am down in London for a few days so I probably won't have time to reply to any of them until I get home but know I appreciate them so so much! 
> 
> You can follow me and some of my London adventures on Twitter if you like @JNSbeth


	10. Ten

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lucky dubbed this chapter "Nicole is an idiot" and well, she's not wrong...but I do hope you enjoy the majority of this chapter
> 
> Thanks to @Luckywantstoknow for beta-ing!

Nicole had left for the station a little over an hour ago, and Waverly was still in her apartment. Nicole wanted to get in there early with a proper explanation for Nedley as to why she hadn’t let him know she was “working” a Black Badge case, and as much as Waverly didn’t like seeing her stress out about coming up with one, she did enjoy the look of concentration on Nicole’s face as she brainstormed. 

Wrapped snugly in Nicole’s sheets, Waverly had sent Nicole on her way with a kiss for good luck and a promise that no matter what Nedley said, it would be alright. Nicole hadn’t looked entirely convinced.

Waverly needed to head into the station too, she needed to work out exactly which Revenants Wynonna had put down early that morning; if they knew about them already, then they would be able to cross them off their very slowly dwindling list. Waverly wanted to get there before Nicole headed out on patrol, that way she could find out what, if any, punishment Nedley would hand down to her and if he really would allow Nicole to work on a more regular basis with Black Badge.

She wasn’t thrilled that she wouldn’t be able to cross Bobo off their list, she wished he had been there when she and Wynonna arrived at the warehouse. Every time she thought of him her blood boiled and the idea of Wynonna having the chance to shoot him at some point was the only thing that made her calm down in the slightest…along with the fact that Nicole was no longer being held captive by him and his lap dogs. Waverly didn’t know what she would have done if Nicole hadn’t offered her to spend the night, even just a few hours in her arms after being worried sick was exactly what she had needed.

After enjoying the lingering scent of Nicole on the sheets for as long as she could possibly justify, Waverly made her way into Nicole’s kitchen. She had left coffee in the pot and a note on the counter telling Waverly to help herself to anything she wanted, it was signed with a heart and Waverly smiled to herself as she felt a wave of affection consume her.

This was such a terrible idea; she was falling hard for Nicole. Harder than she had ever fallen for anyone. Things were looking a little brighter though, they’d had a quick debrief with Dolls before Waverly drove the two of them to Nicole’s place. Nicole had seen everything Wynonna had done inside that warehouse, there was no denying that, and while Dolls didn’t exactly seem thrilled about his hand being forced to bring someone new in on Black Badge business, Wynonna kindly cut in and told him that having a cop on the team could only help.

Nicole pretended to be a little shaken by what she had seen but when it came to Dolls question of whether Nicole was up for the task, she confidently stated she wanted to help. Dolls promised to be there with her the next morning when she informed Nedley of her involvement in _some_ future cases, and Waverly couldn’t help but grin at the excitement in Nicole’s eyes. She really did want to help. Waverly hadn’t necessarily doubted that, but it was comforting to get confirmation.

Once she’d had her fill of coffee and a yogurt from the fridge, Waverly took advantage of plumbing installed in the last thirty years and had a long shower without worrying that the water was going to run cold like it did every single time she showered at the Homestead. 

Waverly strolled into the station with a spring in her step, one she was surprised existed considering the night before, but sleeping next to Nicole, knowing that she was safe and the faith Waverly had that Nicole’s plan to help them end the curse was starting to come to fruition, she couldn’t help it. She happily waved to Lonnie as she breezed past the front desk but stopped dead in her tracks as her eyes caught the scene in the Sheriff's office.

Nicole, Wynonna and Dolls were all in Nedley’s office, Nedley looked absolutely furious. She hadn’t seen him look so pissed since Waverly and Chrissy were in high school and got caught sneaking out after they were supposed to be sleeping. She couldn’t hear what was being said, but his face was bright red and Nicole’s head was down, her shoulders pulled right up around her neck. There was zero chance the conversation was going how they had all hoped it would…she was genuinely worried that it looked like Nicole might just be getting fired.

Official Black Badge researcher status didn’t exactly give Waverly the power to rush in there and find out what was going on and neither did her relationship with Nicole, even if it was still very much under wraps from Nicole’s colleagues. Waverly had to stay where she was, hoping to gain any insight into what was transpiring by reading Nedley’s rapidly moving lips. It was difficult due to his moustache, but she could very easily make out the word “no” being said multiple times.

“Something I can help you with, Waverly?” Lonnie asked, and Waverly forced her eyes away from what looked like even more negative reactions from Nedley to something Dolls had just said.

“I wanted to speak to my sister. Any idea how long they’ve been in there?”

“Twenty minutes?” Lonnie looked over his shoulder and turned back to Waverly with a smirk. “Sheriff wasn’t too happy with the _golden child_ this morning.”

“Shut up, Lonnie.” Waverly huffed and stormed into the BBD office without waiting for his response. She paced back and forth until the moment Wynonna came through the door, quickly followed by Dolls. “What happened?”

“Nedley said no.” Wynonna shrugged and Dolls simply carried on past Waverly and into his own office. Waverly couldn’t figure out how he felt about what had just happened with Nedley.

“Said no to what?” Waverly already knew, but she needed to hear Wynonna say it.

“No to Nicole working with us. He said we can’t just take his officers in on a case without consulting him, said he won’t risk losing his best deputy to our ‘freaky’ crap!” Wynonna slumped down in a chair and opened the box of donuts on the table in front of her.

“He can’t do that!” Waverly slammed the lid of the box closed just as Wynonna was diving in to grab one. She knew very well that Nedley _could_ in fact do that, Nicole was _his_ deputy. She just wished he could understand why this was so important... but he couldn’t possibly.

“Hey!” Wynonna shouted at Waverly as she shook out her hand. “I thought _you’d_ at least be happy about it, Nicole’s going to be safe this way!”

“She is still a cop _and_ in a relationship with an Earp!” Waverly pointed out with a raised eyebrow and Wynonna gave her a resigned sigh in acknowledgment. Even without the fact she was a Revenant going against every other one of her kind, she would still be a target. Waverly took a step back, worrying her lip. “How did she take it?”

“I’m not sure…she went straight to the bathroom after we all left Nedley’s office.” Wynonna’s face told Waverly everything she needed to know, Nicole had not taken it well. “Maybe you should…”

“Yeah…” Waverly nodded and immediately made her way to the women’s restroom. The outer door was locked when she tried to push it open, she didn’t even realise it could be locked but she could hear Nicole on the other side of the door. Waverly pressed her ear to the door. “Nicole? Can you let me in?”

She was met with silence on the other side of the door, no more of the pacing and cursing she’d been able to hear before. The lock unclicked but Nicole didn’t open the door so Waverly gingerly pushed it open herself and found the latch to make sure they had their privacy. Nicole had her back to Waverly, there was so much tension in her shoulders and all Waverly wanted to do was get rid of it. She took a step forward and placed a gentle hand on her arm, but Nicole quickly shrugged out of it.

“Don’t.”

Waverly took a step back. Nicole didn’t sound like herself. She sounded like…the others.

Waverly shook her head. Nicole would never hurt her, no matter how worked up she was…no matter how much her voice right now reminded her of those who _had_ hurt her. Waverly placed her hand back on Nicole’s arm, slowly trailing down until their hands were linked, thankful that Nicole didn’t pull away this time.

“Baby…look at me.” Waverly gently tugged on Nicole’s hand but Nicole shook her head. “Baby. Please.”

Nicole slowly turned around, her eyes screwed shut. Waverly let go of her hand and placed a palm on each of Nicole’s cheeks, her thumbs moving softly across Nicole’s almost too hot to touch skin.

“Nicole…” Waverly didn’t want her to hide, even if it did scare her a little. Nicole swallowed heavily and slowly opened her eyes. Waverly couldn’t stop the small gasp that escaped as she came face to face with angry red eyes and Nicole tried to pull away again. “No…don't, I’m sorry! It’s just a little…shocking.”

“It happens when I’m angry.” Nicole shook her head and as Waverly continued to run her thumbs over her cheeks, the red began to fade back to her usual deep brown and tears began to fall. “How am I supposed to get Wynonna to trust me if I can’t even work with you guys?”

“We’ll figure it out, I promise.” Waverly tried to sound confident but she pulled Nicole into a tight hug so Nicole wouldn’t be able to read the doubt on her face. She had no idea how they were going to manage it yet, but they had to. She could feel Nicole beginning to relax as her arms tightened around Waverly’s waist and she had to fight herself not to pull Nicole into a kiss. “You should get back to work.”

“Yeah.” Nicole nodded regretfully as they pulled apart and she wiped at her eyes. “Nedley is already pissed enough with me as it is. I’ll call you later?”

“Please.” Waverly smiled as she leaned in for a quick chaste kiss; if she lingered too long on Nicole’s lips she was sure all she would want to do would be to push Nicole back against the nearest wall and help both of them forget their worries. “Any chance you know the names of the guys Wynonna shot?” Waverly cringed as she asked; she didn’t want to remind Nicole so quickly of her lack of active involvement, but they really did need to know.

Thankfully, Nicole nodded with an understanding smile before she rattled off their names. Waverly thanked her with another brief kiss before they really did have to get back to their respective days.

 

\------ 

 

Nicole did her best to avoid Nedley at all cost during the rest of her day. She was furious and disappointed and felt like even though Nedley had called her his best deputy, it couldn’t mean much. Not if he didn’t think she could handle working in such high stakes situations with BBD. If only he knew just how capable Nicole was of handling those situations.

She made it right through until almost the end of her shift without even having to make eye contact with him. Right up until Nedley put on his coat, his Stetson and strode up to her desk.

“Take a walk with me, Haught?” He tapped his knuckles against her desk and while it was phrased as a question, it certainly wasn’t one. Nicole put the file she was working on away and rose from her seat.

Nedely remained silent as they walked out of the station and down Main Street.

“Sheriff…what are we doing?” Nicole had held off as long as she could, trying to figure out if there was a purpose for their walk from the direction they were heading but she couldn’t and she needed to know.

“I know you think I’m being unfair.”

“Sir…” Nicole sighed, she couldn’t exactly argue with that but it also wasn’t in her job description to argue with what the Sheriff deemed appropriate work for her.

“I know Black Badge seems like a hot shit covert operation but _your_ job here is just as important!” Nedley frowned as he continued to walk down the street without looking at Nicole. “Someone needs to keep the non-demon-y residents of this town safe.”

“Sir?” Nicole stopped in her tracks and Nedley followed suit, finally looking her in the eye. Nicole’s heart began to beat wildly in her chest... what did he know? “What-“

“I’ve a good idea of what you were involved in last night…I don’t want to know specifics!” He waved his hands in front of Nicole’s face as if she was about to divulge that information. She most certainly was not. “The less I know the better, but Dolls and _Christ,_ even Wynonna have their job here and you have yours! The people here need someone who’s going to look out for them, someone who can keep the drunks off the road and referee the neighbourhood feuds. I need someone I can rely on, someone who’s capable of being Sheriff once I’m done.”

“Sir…” Nicole shook her head, her throat too tight to speak. That wasn’t even a possibility, no matter how much she might wish it could be.

“I wasn’t completely sure about you at first, I thought it was odd you wanted to come out here from the big city when you’d done so well at the academy, but you’ve proven yourself and then some, Haught.” Nedley put a hand on Nicole’s shoulder and squeezed gently, an almost smile on his face as Nicole attempted not to look as guilt-ridden as she felt. “I need you not to lose focus just because you and Miss Earp are…um…”

“Ok…” Nicole saved him from himself with a genuine smile and a nod. She wasn’t sure how he had found out but she couldn’t very well deny that she and Waverly were together now. She’d done enough lying already. 

Nedley was right. When Nicole came up with her plan, she didn’t Waverly or Wynonna, even if she did know _of_ them. Her plan had not specifically been to assist them in ending the curse, her plan had been to help protect those affected by it; the everyday citizens of Purgatory who had no idea that they were living their lives surrounded by something most of them could never understand. Nicole had never considered that Nedley was following a similar plan, she had no idea that he was even aware of what was actually happening in his town.

“I won’t lose focus, Sheriff. I care about this town, these people.”

“Good. Finish that report and stick it on my desk, then you have yourself a good night and I expect to see you tomorrow with your head screwed on!” Nedley raised his eyebrows and Nicole nodded firmly; she had kind of been phoning it in since their meeting. She wasn’t going to do that again, even if the offer of Sheriff one day wasn’t something she could ever take seriously, she didn’t want to let him down. Not until the day she would absolutely have to.

Nicole noticed the Black Badge office was unusually quiet when she got back to the station, so once she’d done as Nedley had asked, she called Waverly from her desk. She’d lived without a cell phone for decades without a worry, but she understood why most people were constantly attached to them now. She’d wanted to text Waverly all day, tell her how much it meant that she had come looking for Nicole and helped calm her down. 

Waverly was out at the Homestead, but she was was more than happy to make the journey straight back into town once Nicole offered to cook dinner for them. She promised to be at Nicole’s before she knew it and Nicole headed back to her apartment.

Nicole was just putting the final touches on their meal when there was a knock at her door and she smoothed down her shirt before answering. A wide grin appeared instantly as she saw Waverly standing there and once again she wondered how on earth this was actually happening.

“I have a present for you!” Waverly held up a small bag before leaning in and kissing Nicole quickly on the lips. “Hi.”

“Hi.” Nicole grinned as she pulled Waverly inside. Waverly pushed the bag into Nicole’s hands and she inspected its contents. A new phone, a much more expensive looking one than what she had bought herself. Her smile got even wider as she looked up to see Waverly’s excited face as she pulled the box out of the bag.

“I wanted you to have a nice one, it’s like mine! Means we can call each other…” Waverly ran her fingers up Nicole’s arms and along her shoulders, they danced across her skin before Waverly began to play with the short hairs at the back of her neck. “They have this thing called FaceTime now…I don’t know if you would have heard of it holed up in that little cabin of yours.”

Nicole had definitely heard of FaceTime but for some reason she didn’t think she had the same idea of what it was used for if she was reading Waverly’s face correctly. Nicole wrapped her arms around Waverly’s waist and pulled her closer.

“Go on…”

“Well…” Waverly’s smirk blossomed into a wide grin, just the lightest shade of pink colouring her cheeks as she leaned closer into Nicole’s space and Wavely’s lips ghosted over her own. “On nights I can’t stay here…and have to be at the Homestead…we can _talk_ while we can _see_ each other. Much more…efficient than a simple phone call.”

“Efficient huh?” Nicole laughed, that was not the word she thought Waverly was looking for. “I like the sound of this FaceTime but right now, you’re actually here so how about you show me how it works later?” Nicole squeezed Waverly’s side and she squeaked before giggling and bringing their lips together properly.

As they fell back onto the couch and Waverly’s hands inched underneath her top she regretfully had to steer them in a more innocent direction, she didn’t want to stop but she also didn’t want all the time she’d spent cooking a nice meal for Waverly to go to waste. She promised Waverly they would go right back to where they were after dinner and after revealing exactly what she’d cooked for them, Waverly beamed and excitedly skipped over to the kitchen. 

Nicole couldn’t stop the grin that covered her face as Waverly talked about her day interspersed with moans of pleasure as she enjoyed Nicole’s cooking. She was so proud of the work she was doing with Black Badge and while Nicole wished she could be in there with them, seeing it first hand, hearing Waverly speak so animatedly about it was pretty great.

“Sorry…I’ve been speaking this whole time.” Waverly ducked her head as she brought her fork up to her mouth. Nicole reached over the table and took her hand with a gentle shake of her head.

“I like listening to you.” Nicole shrugged, she could listen to Waverly speak for hours and never get bored, no matter what she was talking about. Waverly gave her a shy smile from across the table and Nicole was beaming all over again.

After they’d eaten it took next to no time to get back to where they’d left off, only now Waverly did not seem satisfied with continuing on the couch. When Nicole tried to walk her backwards towards it without breaking their kiss, a tiny sound of disagreement escaped Waverly mouth.

“Bedroom.” Waverly gasped, breaking away from the kiss for just a moment. As she took Nicole’s face firmly in her hands and walked them down the hall, her tongue ran along Nicole’s bottom lip before she gently met it with her teeth and Nicole knew she’d give Waverly anything she wanted.

 

As Nicole lay satiated with what she could only hope was an equally satisfied Waverly sprawled across her, her mind began to turn over what had happened earlier that day. She had put it out of her mind, not wanting to focus on the fact that Waverly had seen her like _that._ After Waverly had laid herself bare for Nicole mere hours later though, she couldn’t shake the thought from her mind.

Waverly really wasn’t afraid of her. Someone who had rightfully lived her whole life afraid of Revenants, Waverly’s hesitation lasted for less than a second when faced with the reality of what Nicole was. That stoked a fire that Nicole had been sure was extinguished a long _long_ time ago... one of pure, unbridled happiness. 

Nicole just couldn’t shake the question of whether her happiness was worth putting Waverly in even more danger than she was already in? Danger from Revenants...Bobo, if he decided that next time he’d go after Waverly instead of Nicole to get her to keep her mouth shut and danger from Wynonna. If Wynonna found out that Waverly had been keeping this secret from her there was no telling what harm that would do to Waverly and Wynonna’s relationship, especially now that Nicole had no idea how she was supposed to help her and gain the trust she so desperately needed.

Nicole knew if she stayed with Waverly her feelings were only going to grow, more than they already had…she feared that if they did she might just choose Waverly over willingly meeting Peacemaker when the time came. That wouldn’t be fair, not on Waverly and not on Wynonna. The curse absolutely had to be broken, Nicole would have to say goodbye and things would have to end between her and Waverly…maybe the sooner that happened, the easier it would be for both of them. 

“Waves…”

“Hmm?” Waverly’s hum buzzed through Nicole’s chest. The pure contentment she felt from it had her gritting her teeth, she knew what she needed to do.

“I…maybe this isn’t such a good idea.” Nicole swallowed down the words she so desperately wanted to say; _I care about you more than anything I’ve ever cared about in my life. I’m falling for you…_ hard. _I don’t know how I’m supposed to ever say goodbye to you_ .

“What?” Waverly pushed herself up and stared down at Nicole, confusion and shock twisting her features. Nicole took a deep breath and closed her eyes, she couldn’t watch this.

“Bobo’s probably going to keep coming after me until he knows I’m going to keep my mouth shut about everything I know, or he’ll end up coming after _you.”_ Nicole began rattling off the relatively small reasons why their relationship was a bad idea, pointedly ignoring the biggest one. “I can’t work with BBD so gaining Wynonna’s trust is going to be harder than we thought and I’m sure dating her sister is only going to put an entirely different target on my back!”

“Nicole…you…please tell me you don’t mean that.” The crack in Waverly’s voice broke Nicole’s heart. “I’m risking so much to be with you…”

“I know you are…and I can’t let you do that, not for me.” Nicole sighed and as she finally found the nerve to open her eyes she wished she hadn’t. She was met with a look of such anger on Waverly’s face, one that she had never seen before.

“Are you _serious_ right now? You can’t _let_ me?!” Waverly scrambled off of Nicole to stand at the side of the bed. Her arms crossed over her naked chest and Nicole tried not to let her eyes linger anywhere other than Waverly’s face, this really was not the time. “I am here right now, despite the fact my sister would probably kill you _and_ me if she found out what you really are! I...like you Nicole and you do not get to decide that this isn’t worth it _right_ after we’ve just had sex!”

“What if I don’t think this is worth the problems that us being together will cause?” Nicole forced the lie out, of course she thought it was worth it but she couldn’t fall in love with Waverly. If she did, following through with Wynonna taking her out when the time came would be impossible. Beyond impossible.

“I can’t…I can’t believe you.” Waverly’s arms fell limply to her sides and Nicole could see the tears forming in her eyes. “So much for treating me better than Champ!”

Nicole flinched as Waverly’s words hit her square in the chest. That hurt, more than Nicole had expected anything Waverly might say to her would. “I’m sorry...”

“Don’t.” Waverly spat as she started to frantically pull on her clothing she found dotted about the floor, huffing out deep breaths and avoiding looking anywhere near Nicole.

Nicole felt sick, she hadn’t thought about her timing and after everything she had said about being better than Champ, just wanting to be a better person in general, she had hurt the one person who really knew her and still cared about her anyway.

“Don’t go, can we just talk about this?” Nicole moved to the edge of the bed but Waverly raised a hand in front of her as she shook her head and Nicole shrunk back.

“Unless you’ve suddenly changed your mind, there’s nothing for us to talk about.” Waverly pulled up her jeans and stared Nicole down, but she couldn’t say anything. She hadn’t changed her mind, this was still a terrible idea.

Nicole shook her head slowly, eyes lowering to fix firmly on the floor and Waverly stormed out, slamming the door as she left.

“Idiot.” Nicole threw herself back onto her mattress. Any hope she’d had of getting a decent night's sleep was now utterly ruined.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bear with me, ok? I promise it gets better...then a little worse but if you've read my other fics you know I only write happy endings for these two so all I'm asking is that you trust it'll come. 
> 
> If you would like to scream at me in the mean time though, I'm over on twitter @JNSbeth


	11. Eleven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So last weeks chapter was a bit of a bummer...sorry about that but I hope you don't hate me too much and that this weeks makes up for it a little bit! 
> 
> As ever, endless thanks to my beta [@luckywantstoknow](https://twitter.com/LuckyWantsTo) !
> 
> Happy reading!

Waverly _should have known._ She should have known that Nicole would turn out to be a liar. She’d already done it once before so why was Waverly so surprised that she’d do it again?

She had just been so sure that what she felt for Nicole was exactly what Nicole felt for her…obviously she was wrong. She’d bought her that stupid phone, which was not cheap, because she thought Nicole…and their relationship was worth it. Obviously, Waverly didn’t mean as much to Nicole as she thought she did. Waverly wasn’t proud to admit that she’d _almost_ grabbed the damn thing off Nicole’s coffee table on her way out. 

Waverly pushed the door to the homestead open hard enough to slam into the wall. She cringed for just a second at the noise before realizing it had actually made her feel just a little better. She caught the door by the handle on the rebound and slammed it shut, letting the sting of the impact travel up her wrist and into her arm.

Wynonna came stumbling through from the living room, Peacemaker raised until she realised who was standing in the doorway. “Jeez babygirl, what’s wrong?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” 

“Ok…”

“I just…” Waverly did want to talk about it, she just didn’t know what she was supposed to say. “I should have known that Nicole would turn out just like Champ!”

“Did she cheat on you? Already?! I’m gonna…” Wynonna’s eyes hardened as her grip on Peacemaker tightened and Waverly stepped forward to calm Wynonna down with a hand on her forearm. Waverly thought she might actually be able to deal with this easier if Nicole _had_ cheated on her…

“No! No…she just…” Waverly didn’t know how she was going to explain it without giving Nicole away and even if she was angry and hurt as all hell, she wasn’t cruel. She would never do that Nicole. Waverly sighed as she figured out what she could say. “She doesn’t want anything serious.”

“Damn…I thought with those disgusting heart eyes she was giving you that’s exactly what she wanted.”

“Yeah…” Waverly let out a clipped laugh before her shoulders slumped and she could feel the tears starting up again. “Yeah, me too.”

“C’mere.” Wynonna pulled Waverly into a hug and she collapsed into it letting her tears flow freely. “I’m sorry, babygirl. I know how much you like her.”

“Well I don’t anymore.” Waverly said, sounding very much like a child and not caring about it for a moment.

Wynonna simply hummed out a sound that let her know how little she was buying that, and Waverly’s tears came harder as she accepted how little what Nicole had said actually changed her feelings. She wanted Nicole to change her mind and she knew how foolish that made her; yearning for someone who didn’t care enough to deal with a few road bumps was not a mistake she wanted to make... but she knew she wouldn’t be able to help it.

Even after an unsurprisingly restless sleep, Waverly felt a little better in the morning. She was still angry, she was still upset, but she had spent most of the night trying to convince herself that she deserved better. She knew she did, it was why she had broken up with Champ and now it would be why she was going to try not to long for a relationship with Nicole.

She had plenty of work to be getting on with before she needed to head to Shorty’s for her shift that evening and no matter how little she wanted to see Nicole around the station, she was going to head in with Wynonna. She wasn’t even going to think about asking Nicole if a night alone with her thoughts had led her to change her mind because now it didn’t matter. Waverly’s mind was made up; she deserved someone who cared. 

Wynonna double and then triple checked that Waverly was totally comfortable making an appearance at the station. Waverly put on her brightest, fakest smile and asked her why she would even wonder that.

Waverly drove them both into town, stopping for coffee on the way, and had to remind herself not to buy the one extra coffee she had been for the past few weeks. Wynonna glanced at her quickly as she faltered with the order despite her mental reminder. She looked concerned, almost like Waverly might burst into tears at any second but Waverly sent another fake but equally bright smile her way and Wynonna seemed to buy it. If she didn’t, she didn’t mention it.

By the time they had made it to the station, Waverly was really regretting her decision to head into town and not hide out at the Homestead; the only place that she wouldn’t ever see Nicole. She sat tapping her fingers of the steering wheel, staring across the street at the municipal building far too long for someone who was certain this was what she wanted to do.

“You sure you want to do this? I can always have Dolls email you anything we need you to look at.” Wynonna offered kindly, her hand coming to rest on Waverly’s bouncing thigh. Waverly did consider it for a moment; they had finally got the internet hooked up at the Homestead.

“I’m sure.” Waverly nodded before she grabbed the tray of coffees, jumped out of the Jeep and crossed the street.

If she could handle Champ still drinking at Shorty’s, she could handle the possibility of seeing Nicole around the station. They’d been an item for a couple days, it would be totally ridiculous if she felt utterly and completely heartbroken…except that she did.

Wynonna held the door to the building open and Waverly walked straight to the BBD office, eyes trained on the floor. She hadn’t noticed how quickly she had been moving until she got to the door and Wynonna was still half way down the corridor looking at her with a raised eyebrow.

“Waves…” Nicole spoke from behind her and ask much as Waverly wanted to ignore the way her name falling from Nicole’s lips made her feel, she couldn’t and turned around to face her. “Can we talk?”

“Sorry, Haught.” Wynonna was at Waverly’s side in an instant, an arm around her shoulders gripping tight. “Waverly is _super_ busy today.”

“Oh…um, ok.” Nicole’s eyes were locked on Waverly’s before they trailed down to the tray of coffees in her hand. It was such a small thing, but Waverly swore she could see the moment Nicole’s heart sank as she noticed her usual wasn’t nestled amongst them. “Maybe later?” Nicole looked up at her again and Waverly could see behind the hope in her eyes that Nicole appeared so unbelievably sorry. Waverly could feel herself inching towards her until Wynonna’s grip tightened and she forced herself to remain still.

“I don’t know.” Waverly forced her eyes away, she couldn’t handle seeing Nicole looking so apologetic and not hear her out.

“Alright well, you know where I’ll be. Have a good day.” Nicole sighed before she slunk away, and Waverly couldn’t stop her eyes from following. Waverly had never seen Nicole look so disappointed, maybe she really had changed her mind.

“Come on.” Wynonna pulled her through the door to Black Badge, Waverly’s eyes never leaving Nicole’s slumped form at her desk until the door was closed and as soon as it was, Waverly burst into tears again. “Waves…she’s not worth your tears.” Wynonna wiped them away with more gentle words but all Waverly could think of was that Nicole really was worth them, every single one. She was worth everything.

 

\------- 

Nicole didn’t know what she expected. Waverly had made herself pretty clear the night before, there was no way she would believe that Nicole had changed her mind over night.

She hadn’t really changed her mind, she still thought it was a terrible idea falling in love with Waverly. She still thought that in doing so she would absolutely go back on the promise she made to herself, but just one night with Waverly believing that Nicole didn’t think she was worth all that pain and trouble was worse than every single night she had spent alone for all those years. She didn’t want it to last one more night, Waverly needed to know she was worth it, that _they_ were worth it.

Nicole should have known that Wynonna wouldn’t be far from Waverly and that she would step in as the protective older sister. She could only imagine how upset Waverly had been when she made it back to the Homestead.

Hope that Waverly might just sneak away and come talk to her lingered in the back of Nicole’s mind most of the day but when she saw both sisters heading out without sparing the slightest glance in her direction, it disappeared completely. Wynonna clearly wasn’t the only thing holding Waverly back. 

Nicole knew she had messed up and she had absolutely no idea how to fix it, it wasn’t like she could just turn up on Waverly’s doorstep to beg for forgiveness. Even if she could, she wasn’t going to force herself into Waverly’s space if she wasn’t wanted. She’d just have to wait until Waverly actually wanted to hear what Nicole had to say, if that day ever actually came.

Nicole threw herself into work, she still had a job to do even if she wasn’t able to help Wynonna with hers. The people of Purgatory still needed her. Over the next few days Nicole worked longer hours, spent time getting to know residents beyond their first name and what her fellow officers had told her about them, and tried her best not to think about Waverly.

She didn’t think she’d be waiting a week before Waverly said more than a couple words to her though. She’d almost accepted that this was all they were ever going to be now, Nicole pretending it didn’t hurt as much as it did and trying her hardest not to wonder whether or not Waverly was pretending the same. 

After days of exchanging awkward greetings in the station and Waverly scurrying away before Nicole could say anything more to her, she had not expected Waverly to storm up to her desk, grab her by the arm and pull her into the empty Black Badge office. Nicole first instinct was that something was wrong, that something had happened to Wynonna or Dolls or even Doc with how desperate her breathing sounded.

“Waverly, what’s wrong? Is Wynonna ok?” Nicole wanted to reach out for Waverly, comfort her but she had no idea how that would be taken so she kept her hands steady as they could be at her side.

“She’s fine, I just…” Waverly folded her arms across her chest and locked eyes with Nicole. “Why are we doing this?”

“We aren’t doing anything, Waverly.” Nicole sighed, her initial worry dissipating into confusion. Wasn’t this what Waverly had wanted? She could have come to speak to Nicole at any point, she could have called or come over to her place.

Waverly’s face fell and Nicole was suddenly struck with the fact that she hadn’t made a point of seeking Waverly out either…

“Exactly and it’s stupid!” Waverly threw her arms up in the air before she reached forward for Nicole’s hand and Nicole didn’t fight her as she laced their fingers together.

“Waverly…” Nicole breathed out through the tightness in her throat. She couldn’t believe what such a simple and gentle action was doing to her. She knew she had missed Waverly, but she hadn’t realised it had been _this_ much.

“You’ve been miserable all week, Nicole…” Waverly squeezed the hand in hers softly and Nicole was almost about to protest but the tiniest quirk in Waverly’s eyebrow told her it was pointless.

“I have…” Nicole nodded, a sad smile gracing her lips at the fact Waverly had even noticed. Nicole had been sure that Waverly hadn’t paid her more than a second’s glance in days.

“So why did you say those things?” Waverly asked quietly; whatever rush of confidence that had compelled her to grab Nicole and drag her somewhere private was clearly waning.

Nicole wanted to tell her the truth, she knew that Waverly deserved that after a week of not knowing and a week of Nicole just wishing that Waverly would willingly talk to her. She had her chance now and she wouldn’t waste it.

“Because I’m scared.” Nicole swallowed heavily, she wasn’t sure scared properly encompassed what she felt. “I’m absolutely terrified that…if I fall for you,” Nicole sighed as she reached up for Waverly’s cheek, caressing it and melting at the way Waverly’s breath caught in her thought. “The idea of having to leave you, it’ll be too much to bear. We both know how this is going to end…”

“But not when.” Waverly said firmly, Nicole could see she truly believed that. Nicole wished she could believe that too. “I already said, if you’re the last one then we’ll have time. We can-”

“Waverly…” Nicole interrupted her as gently as she could, she couldn’t listen to Waverly getting her hopes up. “That’s not an option and I know deep down you understand that. Anything could happen to Wynonna before we came to a decision on when I should go…we can’t risk this curse starting all over again.”

“Does that have to mean we can’t be happy in the meantime though? I can’t stand seeing you miserable... _I_ don’t want to be miserable.” Waverly quickly wrapped her arms around Nicole’s waist and let her forehead fall onto Nicole’s chest.

“I don’t want you to be either.” Nicole admitted, she leaned down and pressed her lips to Waverly’s hair. It was the lightest kiss, perhaps all Nicole was entitled to after how badly she had hurt Waverly. “I want to be with you, even if it means saying goodbye will be the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”

Waverly leaned back and stared into Nicole’s eyes, she could tell Waverly was searching for the truth of Nicole’s words and she wouldn’t find anything but that. It was going to be the hardest thing Nicole ever did but Waverly was worth it and now Waverly knew exactly how Nicole felt.

“I want us to promise each other one thing.”

“What?” Nicole asked, she’d very nearly said ‘anything’ but that was a dangerous game to play.

“Until you are the last one…we don’t talk about you having to go,” Waverly said evenly, despite the tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

“Waverly…”

“No, Nicole. Please?” Waverly took a deep shuddering breath and Nicole was certain the tears were ready to fall, she pulled Waverly closer and nodded. Nicole thought she might just be able to handle this condition. “Tonight, we figure out the plan for when that happens but until we have to put it into motion, we don’t talk about it again. You want to be happy until you go right? Want to be happy _with me?”_ Waverly raised an eyebrow in challenge and Nicole couldn’t fight her smile.

“I do.” Nicole nodded, the idea of being as happy as she had been for those few days with Waverly for rest of her time here was perhaps the one thing she wanted more than the stupid curse coming to an end with her.

“Then that’s the deal. One more night where we talk about it and then we put it out of our minds and be happy…” Waverly’s voice cracked, and a tear rolled down her cheek as she blinked slowly. “While we can, ok?”

“Yeah, ok.” Nicole could feel her own tears coming and she didn’t stop them. Waverly’s lips turned up into a small smile as she wiped them away and all Nicole wanted to do was kiss her properly, but she hesitated not knowing if they could simply go back to where they were before Nicole’s foolish decision. “Can I kiss you?”

Waverly nodded almost frantically, her cheeks colouring as she slowed it down to calmer pace and Nicole leaned in. She knew she had missed the feeling of having Waverly in her arms, on her lips and the moment they touched again it was even more electric than the first time. Nicole pulled Waverly as tight against her as she could, any worries that she was still on the clock lost to the back of her mind and every bit of sadness that had inched its way into her mind the past week fading away.

“I missed you,” Waverly gasped, their lips barely separating. Waverly gripped at the back of Nicole’s neck, as if she couldn’t possibly get close enough and Nicole hummed happily in response. She pulled Waverly’s hips right into her and promised herself that she would not go another day without showing Waverly just how much she cared about her.

“Thank _GOD!”_ Wynonna exclaimed from behind then and the pair broke apart to turn and face their interrupter. “You going to stop stomping around the Homestead now, babygirl?”

“I have _not_ been stomping…” Waverly glared at her sister before catching Nicole’s eye and blushing a brighter red than Nicole had ever seen on her. Nicole squeezed Waverly’s side and gave her an understanding smile, she’d been stomping around her apartment a little too. Waverly rolled her eyes with a small grin and focussed back on her sister. “…but yes.”

“I should get back to work, you want to come over after eight? We can talk…” Nicole pressed a quick kiss to her lips as she nodded. Nicole began back to her desk with what felt like the first real smile she’d had in days. She nodded a farewell to Wynonna who was definitely smiling back but there was a hint of something else on her face too. It hadn’t exactly surprised Nicole that Wynonna had been less than friendly the past week, but she did hope they could repair the friendship that Nicole had been sure they were building now that she and Waverly were back on track. “Sorry about the stomping.”

“Just don’t do it again.” Wynonna’s smile disappeared as she gave Nicole the warning and Nicole nodded fervently and absolutely sincere. She was not going to make that mistake twice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank goodness for Waverly being the brave one *cough* again! *cough* 
> 
> Honestly, I didn't have Nicole telling Waverly that they shouldn't stay together in my first draft of the previous chapter but as I was writing Nicole's thought process after Waverly seeing her all Revenant-y, I realised it was probably something she would do not only to protect herself but to protect Waverly so I'm so many of you seemed to get that as well as agreeing that she was an idiot ha. Good thing she came to her senses! 
> 
> If you'd like to follow me on Twitter I'm over there [@JNSbeth](https://twitter.com/JNSbeth)  
> , pretending that the finale never happened and that Waverly and Nicole are together and happy :D


	12. Twelve

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It is Tuesday once again and thankfully these two are back on track...they just have to have a pretty intense talk first.
> 
> Many many thanks to [@luckywantstoknow](https://twitter.com/LuckyWantsTo) for being such an amazing beta! 
> 
> Also...look at me! I figured out how to put links in my notes! It only took me 84 years!

“So, you guys are all _hunky-dory_ now?” Wynonna asked around a smile as soon as Nicole was out of earshot, or probably out of earshot. Waverly really wasn’t sure how well Revenants could hear…she should probably ask Nicole about that at some point as she wouldn’t want any of Wynonna’s more _interesting_ comments to reach her ears.

“Yeah…we have some stuff we need to talk about but, yeah.” Waverly exhaled the residual tension out of her body, she really had no idea how it would go when she pulled Nicole away. All she knew was that she couldn’t stand another day watching Nicole mope about the station.

“Good. Maybe we can get back to you actually focussing on these Revs we need to find then?” Wynonna walked by her, lightly shoving her shoulder with a playful wink and Waverly gave her a guilty nod.

She had been pretty useless since everything with Nicole had gone downhill. Every time she looked at a picture of a Revenant or someone even said the word, all she could think about was Nicole and how obviously she regretted what had happened between them. Waverly had been just stubborn enough to hold out for a week; she’d expected Nicole to try and talk to her again, even worried that she’d try to shove a half-baked apology in her face like Champ would have. When she didn’t, Waverly’s first thought was that Nicole was simply over it, over _them_ but then her sorrowful demeanour didn’t shift at all as the days went by.

Nicole had to have thought that Waverly had moved on, but she was far from it and she was not going to give up any more of the time they had left together, not when they had no idea how much time that was. The past week had cemented Waverly’s decision that she would rather have Nicole and have to say goodbye at some point than not have her at all. Waverly was sure that Nicole would have come to the same conclusion.

She knew their talk that night was going to be difficult, but she didn’t even want to think about how difficult it would be trying to maintain any sort of happiness if the rest of their time together was completely overshadowed by Nicole trying to make plans for her own demise. Just one night where they got it all planned out and then they could try to live in ignorant bliss, that she could handle.

Waverly got started on her research but now without the distraction of Nicole’s despondent state, Waverly’s mind began to focus on the bigger problem that they still faced, how on earth were they going to get Wynonna to trust Nicole? And not just trust her, but to trust her so implicitly that when it was revealed what she was, she wouldn’t just shoot first and ask questions later.

Nothing had changed, at least to Waverly’s knowledge, on the Nedley front. Nicole still couldn’t actively get involved with Black Badge cases without him finding out but…she could probably still give them information. Waverly just didn’t know how they would begin to explain how Nicole had come by such information without exposing her.

Cops had confidential informants though…or at least the multiple cop shows that Waverly had been filling her lonely nights with had led her to believe that was true. Maybe Dolls would respect that Nicole had cultivated an informant within the Revenants and keep Wynonna from going all _Wynonna_ and demanding their identity…at least for a little while, if the information kept coming. 

Nicole could just _happen_ to have one who just _happened_ to know a lot of Revenants…or who was a Revenant? Waverly thought it could work…maybe. 

“Anything useable?”

Waverly’s head snapped up to see Dolls standing over the table she’d been working at. She had been miles away, she hadn’t even noticed him come in.

“Uh…maybe. I’ll stick it on your desk if I think so.” Waverly immediately stared back down at the papers in front of her, she would have to speed read to make up for the time lost to her own thoughts. Eyes still on the page, she called after him before he could get too far. “Dolls…does Black Badge ever work with confidential informants, like police officers do…sometimes?” Waverly took a steadying breath before she looked up at him, she was not sure how casually curious her question had come off and she feared not at all.

“Have done, on occasion…why?” Dolls eyebrows pulled together as he crossed his arms, and Waverly was certain he was reading her like a book.

“Uh…no reason. Just curious…watching cop shows last night.” Waverly waved him off with what she hoped was an easy laugh. He seemed to buy her half-truth and headed back to his desk with just the smallest remnant of a frown.

For the next few hours Waverly pored over research but even with giving it her full attention, she still only managed to get enough information together to identify a single unknown Revenant. Nicole’s help wasn’t just essential to winning over Wynonna but to actually break the damn curse as well.

They knew that there were plenty of Revenants in the trailer park, but there were also plenty of humans among them too. They needed to know who was what before Wynonna went in there, otherwise they were embarking on a suicide mission. 

There were also plenty of Revenants who didn’t follow after Bobo like lost little angry puppies, and they were not so easy to spot, Nicole was a perfect example of that. If they didn’t figure out who they all were _and_ where to find them, the chances of Wynonna just happening upon them were slim. 

The little she’d been able to get done was going to have to be enough for the day and so she got up to leave it on Dolls’ desk. She rolled her eyes as he and Wynonna barely broke eye contact to thank her. Waverly really did wonder when the two of them would act on their painfully obvious attraction to one another, even if Dolls was technically Wynonna’s boss.

“I’m going to Nicole’s.” Waverly debated whether or not she should wave a hand between their faces to get their full attention. “Probably won’t be home tonight.”

“Oh…ok. Have fun, babygirl!” Wynonna finally broke from her staring contest and gave Waverly a shit eating grin. “I do mean _fun!_ ”

“Thanks.” Waverly pushed Wynonna’s shoulder with a blush, but she couldn’t help her hopeful smile. Kissing Nicole earlier had definitely ignited a need that she was desperate to satisfy.

The fact that she had to go out to the Homestead to pack an overnight bag before heading to Nicole’s was not ideal. It was just enough time to panic that Nicole was going to pull away again, but she had to shake those negative thoughts from her mind. Nicole didn’t have to kiss her, Nicole didn’t have to suggest she come over that night. They just had to get the discussion that couldn’t be avoided any longer out of the way and they could enjoy the time they had left together.

Waverly couldn’t stop herself from hoping though, that when the time came to tell Wynonna, she would agree with Waverly. Nicole didn’t have to go anywhere if she was the last Revenant. Wynonna’s life wouldn’t be in danger all the time if she wasn’t chasing after Revenants and so the chances of something happening to her and the curse starting all over again weren’t nearly as high as Nicole was making them out to be. 

She had her plan to get Nicole as involved with Black Badge as she could without Nedley worrying about her being actively involved, and Waverly had to believe that not only would it help them end the curse, but that Wynonna couldn’t possibly send Nicole to hell once she knew what she’d done to help them.

\--------

The amount of tidying up that Nicole had to do before Waverly arrived was embarrassing. She had neglected doing anything sensible except actually going in to work over the past few days.

There were dishes piled up in her sink, beer bottles scattered around the living room floor and honestly, too many take-out boxes for a single week of pining. She was surprised Calamity hadn’t decided that getting outside through the crack in the window Nicole left for her and staying there until Nicole got her life together was her best option, but there she was snuggled up on the couch when Nicole walked in.

Calamity mewed at Nicole and stretched out before Nicole went over to deliver some well-earned scratches to her head. The poor thing had listened to her moan and whine all week about how much of an idiot she was. Nicole already knew Calamity would be over the moon when she saw Waverly.

Nicole had two whole hours before Waverly would likely appear and she was going to need every second of that time if she had any hope of making her place look less destitute. The first point of call was to pick up the laundry strewn all over her bedroom floor and stick her dirty sheets in the machine, before replacing them with fresh ones. She didn’t want to assume…but no one could possibly blame her for hoping that Waverly would want to spend the night. That also meant she needed to shower but she was sure she was about to break a sweat thanks to all her tasks that needed completed, so that would have to be the final one.

Nicole was just pulling on a clean pair of jeans when the knock she’d been expecting came. She took a final look in the mirror, her hair was still wet and she debated quickly tying it up but then another slightly more insistent knock sounded and she decided she didn’t care, she just wanted to see Waverly.

“Hi.” Nicole greeted and Waverly grinned at her, her eyes immediately fell to Waverly’s lips and before she could stop herself she was leaning in.

“Hi.” Waverly breathed out as she came up to meet Nicole and twisted her fingers into Nicole’s damp hair.

Nicole didn’t dare break the kiss as she held Waverly’s hips and pulled her backwards into the apartment, shutting the door and pushing Waverly up against it. An arm around her neck held Nicole tight against Waverly’s lips and she pressed her whole body into the kiss.

“Nicole…” Waverly sighed as Nicole’s lips travelled down towards her neck. It had only happened those few times, but she had never felt as close to human again as when she had Waverly in her arms, under her lips and moaning her name like that. “Nicole…wait.”

Waverly gently pushed Nicole back and she went easily. For a moment it seemed like Waverly might just pull her back in, but she shook her head and inhaled deeply through her nose.

“We need to talk first…we can’t get distracted cause then we never will!”

“You’re right.” Nicole nodded a little regretfully before she took Waverly’s hand, threading their fingers together and leading her over to the couch. “Where do you want to start?”

“Well, first of all…I am sorry I stormed out that night. I’m just so used to people being selfish around me, I should have considered the possibility that you were protecting yourself.” Waverly stared down at their linked hands as she gently ran a finger along the back of Nicole’s. Nicole just watched her with a soft smile, she didn’t feel like she deserved an apology from Waverly but she couldn’t say it didn’t make her feel a little better. “I shouldn’t have assumed that it was easy for you to say that to me…”

“It wasn’t…and I’m sorry too. _So_ sorry! I shouldn’t have brought it up while we were in bed, I should have taken a second to think about how that would make you feel.” Nicole hated that she might have led Waverly to think for even a second that she had simply been using her for sex. The look in Waverly’s eye that night and the comparison to Champ, it told Nicole everything.

“Ok…so sorry party is over! We both acted rashly, let’s move past it?” Waverly smiled shyly, and Nicole nodded even though she felt like she could apologise another thousand times and it still wouldn’t be enough. “Good, because I have a plan.”

Waverly launched straight into her idea, having Nicole feed information to Waverly that Waverly could then relay to Wynonna under the guise of it coming from an informant within the Revenants. She couldn’t lie, it made Nicole nervous to be adding even more lies on top of the lies already out there but if Waverly was confident it could work, then Nicole had to have faith too.

Waverly was certain that Dolls would make sure Wynonna respected the relationship between a confidential informant and a cop, he wouldn’t allow Wynonna to force Nicole to give up her source as long as the information kept coming _and_ proved to be legitimate, which of course it would. 

Nicole nodded along, hoping that her face wasn’t giving too much away. She had no idea if Dolls would be able to convince Wynonna not to push Nicole and if she did force Nicole to give up her non-existent informant, she wasn’t sure what she would do.

“So…worth a shot?” Hope swam in Waverly’s eye after she’d laid out her thorough plan.

“I think so…I mean, I’ll do pretty much anything to get Wynonna on my side!” Nicole chuckled nervously but from the way Waverly beamed, she hadn’t registered Nicole’s trepidation. She knew she needed to steer them away from this topic before her hesitation became too obvious. Nicole didn’t want Waverly to think she wasn’t prepared to give her plan a chance. “I guess that brings us to what we really need to talk about though…”

“Right.” Waverly stiffened, and Nicole leaned forward to place her lips to Waverly’s forehead.

Waverly immediately brought up her hands to Nicole’s cheeks, keeping her in place as she lifted her chin and met Nicole’s lips with her own. It was gentle and entirely chaste, but it said more than Waverly seemed to be able to verbalise in that moment. It was definitely Nicole’s time to speak, they were talking about _her_ future after all.

“Once Wynonna takes out the rest, hopefully with my help…then she’ll have to put me down. _As soon_ as I’m the last one.” Nicole sighed as she saw the beginnings of tears in Waverly’s eyes. She brushed a thumb across Waverly’s cheek and bit the inside of her own. How did someone care for her this much? It just didn’t make sense to Nicole. “If something were to happen then the curse will revert to you and the only thing I want less than having to say goodbye to you is…is you being the one to have to put me down. This is my decision, _my_ fate and even though I want nothing more than to change that, I can’t.”

“I know…” Waverly’s chin dropped down onto her chest, and it killed Nicole to say what she needed to next.

“We do also have to face the reality that if Wynonna finds out before we’re ready to tell her that it might end with-“

“No!” Waverly’s head snapped up as she interrupted, and Nicole sat back with a sigh. She should have known that was coming. “If we think she is even close to suspecting something, we go to her and we tell her. Together! That way I can calm her down, make her understand. I am not losing you before I absolutely have to, Nicole.”

“Ok…” Nicole acquiesced. She was not entirely convinced that that was a fool proof plan, but she didn’t want to argue. “When I do go…” Nicole started, and Waverly’s teeth clamped down on her bottom lip.

Nicole leaned forward, resting her forehead against Waverly’s and a hand against her cheek. She needed to say this now, if she never got the chance she knew she would regret it. She took a deep breath before she tried again. “When I do…I want you to know that I’ll be glad that the fact that I’m gone helped you and Wynonna get out from under this curse. Knowing that I could help you live a normal life…it’ll make it easier.”

Waverly didn’t say anything, she didn’t look like she could say anything. She simply took Nicole’s face in her hands and kissed her so fiercely that Nicole gasped. Nicole knew there was more to be said, more to figure out but it was clear Waverly couldn’t handle any more and Nicole wasn’t sure she could either.

“I need you, Nicole.” Waverly pleaded between desperate kisses and Nicole urged her back on the couch, quickly slotting a thigh in between Waverly’s and capturing the resulting moan.

“You have me.” Nicole replied easily as Waverly urged her even closer. 

Their first times together had been gentle, somewhat tentative even, and Nicole had loved it, but Waverly seemed to want more than that now. Nicole quickly removed Waverly’s clothing piece by piece, so she could lavish her with the attention that both of them were craving.

Waverly’s insistent hands worked at Nicole’s clothes and soon the barriers between their skin were lost. She took Nicole’s hand and guided it between them, exactly where she wanted her. Nicole’s eyes closed as she felt just how much Waverly wanted this, utter relief that she hadn’t messed things up so badly that they couldn’t be where they were right at that moment.

“I tried so hard not to think about you touching me…how you made me feel...” Waverly gasped out as Nicole teased her. She had just been about to push inside, but Nicole’s ministrations faltered for a moment as she locked eyes with Waverly. She swallowed thickly; she had tried doing the exact same thing and it had not worked. The way that Waverly was looking at her, it seemed highly likely that she’d had the same problem.

“And…?” Nicole held still, desperate for the answer, desperate to know she wasn’t alone in her midnight cravings of Waverly beneath her, around her, inside of her.

“It didn’t work.” Waverly shook her head, her cheeks colouring as the most beautiful smirk Nicole had ever laid eyes on spread across her lips. “But the real thing is so much better!” Nicole let out an absolutely joyous laugh before she leaned down and captured Waverly’s lips.

No longer content with teasing, she delved inside as muscled arms wrapped around her back and held her as close as possible. Nicole’s couch wasn’t exactly long enough for her to be entirely comfortable in this position but with Waverly rocking into each thrust beneath her, she didn’t care in the slightest. She’d suggest they move to the bedroom at some point, preferably before they were both so exhausted that sleeping on the couch seemed like a good idea, but for now this was exactly where she wanted to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I said to Louhaught after the last chapter, and I felt like sharing with all of you, I honestly never intended this fic to be _such_ a feels fest but here we are! I enjoy a fic that makes me feel things so I do hope I'm doing alright here. 
> 
> As always, your comments and kudos are much appreciated and I honestly can't believe we are closing in on the last chapter. It feels like last week that I started posting this fic! 
> 
> If you'd like to follow me on Twitter, you can do that here [@JNSbeth](https://twitter.com/JNSbeth)  
> I'd love to hear from you/just generally engage in some banter, WE related or not :)


	13. Thirteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slightly longer chapter for you guys this week. 
> 
> Waverly's plan is put into motion, her gift for Nicole comes in handy...ish and Nicole has an overdue confrontation with a certain Revenant. 
> 
> Thanks to [@luckywantstoknow](https://twitter.com/LuckyWantsTo) for her excellent beta skills!

Waverly couldn’t believe how perfectly her plan seemed to be working. She’d nervously presented it to Dolls and Wynonna, Doc sitting in the corner playing with his new phone and pretending not to listen in. He had to know what was really going on but even he chimed in after Waverly’s had finished to agree that it might be their best shot at ending the curse.

Wynonna on the other hand, seemed hesitant. Waverly instantly panicked but kept her mouth shut until Wynonna finished a long drink of her coffee and told her she thought it was too dangerous a position to put Nicole in, especially after what Bobo had tried to do. Waverly simply took a deep breath before she calmly launched into her explanation of how good a cop Nicole was and that she was more than able to handle the task _and_ keep it under the table from Nedley.

Wynonna didn’t look entirely convinced, not until Dolls stood up and said that he was happy to have Nicole on the team as long as any and all issues that might arrive with the Sheriff fell entirely on Nicole’s head. He was adamant that he was not going to get into another argument with the man and Waverly thought that was entirely fair.

Once Nedley had disappeared for the night, Nicole was finally brought into the Black Badge office for the first time in an official capacity. She did have to play up how much she disliked having to keep something like this from the Sheriff but Waverly knew it wasn’t a complete falsehood, Nicole really would have preferred if Nedley was ok with what was happening. Nicole insisted though, that from the moment she found out about the curse from Waverly the night of her kidnapping, she had been desperate to help. It was just pure luck that one of the criminals she’d been ‘trying to get as an informant for months’ turned out to actually be a part of it and there was no chance she would miss out on that opportunity now that she had ‘gained his trust’.

Waverly watched her sister closely and as far as she could tell, Wynonna hadn’t doubted Nicole for a second. It made her feel unbelievably guilty, but she knew it was going to be worth it... it had to be. Nicole would earn Wynonna’s full and complete trust and then neither of them would have to worry about Peacemaker for a long time. Once Wynonna knew about Nicole and what she had done for them, what she had risked by helping them, Waverly was positive Wynonna would be more than happy to discuss their options.

She was not ready to lose Nicole and even though it had been her idea not to talk about it and she was trying not to think about the end, she couldn’t help it. Waverly couldn’t decide if she would have preferred never to have met Nicole at all…but every moment they spent together, Waverly became more and more certain that she wouldn’t trade any of them for a lifetime with someone else. She had absolutely no idea how she was supposed to say goodbye to something like that, how she was supposed to just move on from someone like Nicole.

 

It didn’t take long before the first successful mission, thanks to Nicole’s information. Waverly was over the moon from the minute she’d ended her phone call with Nicole until the moment Wynonna walked through the door at the Homestead. She was quiet, and Waverly knew that look in her eyes. It was the look she got every single time before she left Purgatory. Past experiences had taught Waverly to panic as soon as she saw it and she did, but confusion soon took over. She didn’t understand why Wynonna didn’t look as happy as Waverly felt, Wynonna didn’t realise _how_ big a deal this was for Waverly and Nicole of course, but she had just dispatched another Revenant. Something that was usually cause for celebration. 

“What’s wrong?” Waverly made her way over to Wynonna; her jaw was rigid and her shoulders tense as she finally met Waverly’s eyes and Waverly told herself over and over that Wynonna was not about to run away as she crossed the distance between them. Wynonna wouldn’t do that to her again, not now. 

“He…” Wynonna’s eyes fell to her feet and she swallowed hard. Had something gone wrong during the mission that they hadn’t told Nicole about afterwards or had Nicole just not mentioned it when she had called Waverly to tell her the good news. “He was there that night…the night daddy and Willa…” Wynonna trailed off, she didn’t need to finish that sentence even if she could. Waverly quickly had arms around her as Wynonna’s face twisted in grief. 

Waverly couldn’t lie and say that she had never blamed Wynonna for what had happened to daddy that night, but now that she knew all about Bobo tricking her into allowing Revenants onto the Homestead, all of those years she had blamed Wynonna felt like poison.

“Hey…it’s ok.” Waverly felt the hot tears hit her neck as Wynonna buried herself into the embrace. “He’s gone now. You did good, Wynonna.”

“It’s doesn’t bring them back though.” Wynonna sobbed out before taking a deep breath and shaking herself free of Waverly’s arms. Her eyes were clamped shut and Waverly waited patiently as Wynonna took a few deep breaths before she opened them and Waverly offered her an understanding nod.

“I know…but we _can_ finish this, together. So nothing like that ever happens again.” Waverly pulled Wynonna back into her, even when she put up the slightest protest. She knew Wynonna needed this moment of weakness before she went back to pretending that none of this affected her. “How about I run you a bath? Maybe even get you some candles? Whiskey?”

“I thought you were spending the night at _Nicole’s_ ?” Wynonna wiggled her eyebrows, it wasn’t quite as funny with her red rimmed eyes, but Waverly still shook her head with small laugh.

“I’m staying here tonight.” Waverly had planned to go over to Nicole’s, celebrate the fact Waverly’s plan was working but it was clear she was needed here.

“You know I don’t mind if she comes over, right?” Wynonna asked quietly and Waverly instantly felt the guilt riding up her throat, threatening to spill out. “I haven’t done anything to make you think she can’t, have I? I know this is…different for you but I am ok with it, you know that, don’t you?”

“I know, of course I know that. She just…prefers to stay at her place when she has work the next day. Her uniform…her gun safe, it’s all there.” Waverly didn’t feel like she deserved to look her sister in the eye as she lied straight to her face, but she feared if she didn’t Wynonna would know just how little truth there was in her words.

“Ok…good.” Wynonna nodded to herself, she seemed to have bought it and it only made Waverly’s guilt so much worse. She wished this was all so much easier.

“I’ll get that bath ready.” Waverly slunk away and set about her task.

She grabbed the whiskey from the kitchen, then collected a few candles from her room after she’d started to run the water, and even grabbed a face mask she thought Wynonna might like. Wynonna appeared in the doorway just as Waverly was placing the candles around the bath, she then quirked an eyebrow at the bottle of bubble bath that Waverly pulled out from behind the toilet.

“Were you hiding that from me?”

“It’s expensive.” Waverly shrugged, a tiny grin on her lips. “And you always use too much.” Waverly giggled as she poured a capful into the water and swished her hand around to get the bubbles to start forming. “I _will_ find another hiding spot for this but tonight…I guess you can use as much as you want.” Waverly reluctantly handed over the bottle before leaving Wynonna to relax.

Waverly settled on her bed and pulled out her phone. She thought about just calling Nicole but since she wasn’t going to see her that night in person, she figured seeing her face through the phone was better than nothing. 

Nicole’s beaming face greeted her and instantly Waverly felt her guilt fading away, Nicole was the reason she was doing all of this lying, and she was worth it.

“Hey baby, are you heading over soon?” Nicole looked so hopeful, Waverly could tell she was stretched out on the couch, no doubt waiting patiently for Waverly to arrive. 

She hated to disappoint her but she knew Wynonna’s bath was simply a temporary salve on what was bothering her. Waverly had a feeling that she and Wynonna would be spending the rest of the evening passing the remaining whiskey back and forth on the porch. 

“I’m sorry, I think I’m staying here tonight…Wynonna…she needs me.”

“Is she alright? Was she hurt? Nobody said there was any trouble!” Nicole sounded panicked but Waverly quickly tried to calm her down.

“She’s ok! She’s ok…just a little…emotional. She’ll be alright, I just don’t want to leave her alone…I’m sorry.” Waverly winced, she really wasn’t sure how Nicole was going to take her cancelling their plans. As much as Waverly knew Nicole wasn’t anything like Champ, it was hard not to let her past with him inch its way into her mind in situations like this. He had never been pleased when she cancelled their plans, not until he found someone else to entertain himself with anyway.

“You don’t need to apologise for looking out for her, Waves.” Nicole gently shook her head as she smiled kindly. Waverly lay back against her pillows with a quiet sigh of relief. “Do you need to go check on her right now?”

“I just ran her a bath, so we can talk for a while.” Waverly grinned, she was sure the water would stay warm enough for Wynonna’s liking for at least twenty minutes. Longer if she had enough of the whiskey. 

“Good…” Nicole bit down on her bottom lip like she wanted to say something, Waverly raised her eyebrows just enough for Nicole to realise she knew there was something going on in her head. Nicole chuckled as she shook her head, eyes darting away from her screen.

“What?”

“Nothing…just…nothing.” When Nicole looked back at her screen Waverly could see a blush just beginning on her cheeks and the way her eyes were roaming Waverly’s face, she thought she might just have an idea what Nicole had been thinking.

If Nicole was too embarrassed to suggest something that _had_ been Waverly’s idea, then Waverly was more than willing to get the ball rolling.

“Y’know…we still haven’t…” Waverly bit the inside of her cheek as her confidence wavered, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She could do this, she could be sexy and alluring even if she wasn’t there in person. When she opened her eyes again, Nicole had a playful grin on and her confidence returned. “What would we be doing if I was at your place right now?” 

“Waves…” The lower timbre of Nicole’s voice and the way she pulled her lip between her teeth instantly sent a heat straight to Waverly’s core. She tried to swallow down the whimper that was begging to come out, but a small gasp managed to escape, and Waverly could see Nicole’s eyes darken hungrily. “I’d definitely be kissing you…holding you.”

“Yeah?” Waverly smiled, she had figured Nicole might still be incredibly sweet if they ever got around to doing this, even though she could see the want clear on her face. Waverly wanted her to know she didn’t always have to be, Nicole had shown her more than once that she could give in to her own desires but there always seemed to be a part of Nicole holding back. “What else would you be doing?”

Nicole seemed to be trying to gauge just how much Waverly wanted to hear and Waverly gave her a small nod in encouragement, she wanted to hear everything.

“I’d slip my hand down the front of your pants…” Nicole paused to lick her lips and Waverly hoped she was imagining exactly how that would feel, she knew _she_ was. So much so that her hand had started to travel down her stomach almost of its own accord. She wasn’t sure if Nicole had noticed but knew the second the sound of her top button popping open made it through the phone. “Waves, are you-“

“Yes…keep talking.” Waverly nodded emphatically as she slid her hand lower, her fingers meeting the wetness she knew was already there.

“Um…” Nicole gulped so loudly that Waverly couldn’t help but smirk. “What would you like me to say?”

“Tell me how you’d touch me, how it makes you feel when you know how much I want you.” Waverly’s breathing sped as she slowly worked her fingers in slow, tight circles. She had been so set for a night in Nicole’s bed and she didn’t want to be the only one really enjoying this. “Tell me that you’re touching yourself just thinking about it.”

“Ok…” Nicole fumbled with her phone for a moment and Waverly thought she’d maybe gone a little too far too quickly. Then she got a quick flash of Nicole’s hand travelling towards the waistband of her pants as she righted herself and Waverly couldn’t help but speed up the movements of her fingers. She was enjoying this far more than she thought she might. “God…I wish you were here right now.”

“Me too.” Waverly sighed and as Nicole continued, telling her exactly how she wished it was her hand extracting the quiet moans that were falling from Waverly’s mouth, how she wished she could taste her right now, Waverly’s head fell back against her headboard.

With her eyes screwed shut, hanging onto every word Nicole said, Waverly could feel herself falling and fast. Despite her initial hesitation Nicole was, unsurprisingly, amazing at this just like everything else she and Waverly had experienced together. She could hear Nicole’s laboured breaths becoming more frequent as she struggled to continue uttering the words that had Waverly so close to losing her mind. Waverly quickly looked down at her phone to see Nicole’s face flushed, her lips slightly parted and Waverly thought Nicole might be just as close as she was.

“Are you clo-“

“Yes… _shit,_ ” Nicole groaned and Waverly almost came undone at the sound.

“Waves!” Waverly eyes went wide as her bedroom door flung open. She dropped her phone facedown at her side and tried to grab something, anything to cover herself as Wynonna’s arm flew up to cover her eyes. “Fuck! Sorry!”

“ _Wynonna!_ ” Waverly yelled as her sister blindly grabbed for the handle and shut the door as quickly as she could, more obscenities coming from the other side. She could hear Nicole’s voice muffled by the covers and she quickly picked her phone up to apologise. “Sorry baby…Wynonna just came in _without knocking!_ ” She yelled the last part towards her door and heard a loud ‘sorry’ from the other side.

“It’s ok…” Nicole sighed, her eyes a little wide and definitely missing that hunger from before. Waverly shook her head, she was going to kill Wynonna. “You should…go see what see wanted.”

“Yeah…” Waverly said, more than little disappointed but not with Nicole. She should go and check on Wynonna and she was glad Nicole understood that. “I’ll call you back later…when she’s _asleep_ !”

“Alright,” Nicole chuckled, Waverly’s panicked heart rate slowing as she joined in. “I’m looking forward to it.”

“Me too.” Waverly grinned before she blew a kiss to her screen and disconnected the call.

After a quick trip to the now empty bathroom, Waverly made her way downstairs. Wynonna was nowhere to be seen in the kitchen or in the living room, so Waverly went out onto the porch. She found Wynonna lounging in a chair, whiskey bottle sitting at her feet.

“Sorry,” Wynonna said without looking at her. “I didn’t realise you were into po-“

“I wasn’t watching _porn,_ Wynonna,” Waverly groaned as she took the seat next to her sister. “Me and Nicole were…”

“Oh… _oooh._ ” Wynonna turned to her with a shit eating grin as Waverly rolled her eyes and grabbed the bottle of whiskey, taking a long pull from the bottle before handing it to Wynonna.

“You should have knocked!” Waverly sighed as she lightly shoved Wynonna’s shoulder.

“Sorry,” Wynonna winced. “Honestly, I am! I’ll knock from now on _and_ especially whenever Nicole spends the night here, I promise!” Wynonna offered her a genuinely apologetic smile and Waverly forced a grateful one back to her.

“Thank you…” Waverly swallowed down her guilt as she spoke and barely resisted grabbing the bottle back from Wynonna.

 

\--------- 

Nicole rolled over and reached out an arm, forgetting in her just woken up haze that Waverly hadn’t stayed over the night before. She grabbed at the pillow instead and pulled it towards her face, covering her eyes from the nuisance of the sun. She didn’t have work until late and from her best guess it was barely eight in the morning but regardless of how much light the pillow blocked out, she knew she was most likely up for the day.

She could hear Calamity scratching at her door and she reluctantly climbed out of bed to let her into the room. It wasn’t a habit to keep her out of the bedroom but when Waverly had called Nicole back a few hours after they had been interrupted, Nicole wasn’t taking any chances on getting disturbed again. Calamity purred happily as she weaved between Nicole’s legs before jumping up onto the bed and settling down.

Figuring she’d get an earlier start to her day than planned, Nicole went about making some breakfast and brewing some coffee before sitting down at the kitchen table and opening up the file she had begun working on the night before. Waverly’s plan seemed to be working, Wynonna seemed to be buying the informant story…for now, but Nicole needed Waverly to have a backup. If something happened to Nicole, if Wynonna found out about Nicole before she’d proven conclusively that she was not a threat, Nicole needed Waverly to have all the information she could to take down the rest of the Revenants without Nicole. Nicole needed to know that Waverly _and_ Wynonna would be safe even if she couldn’t be there to help make sure.

She knew she should have started compiling the evidence years ago, it wasn’t like most of the good-for-nothings ever really changed their patterns of behaviour in over a century. They hunted in the same spots, hid their victims’ bodies in the same spots and all because they didn’t believe that the law would ever touch them. They were probably right, the number of cover-ups that Nicole had found in the Sheriff department’s files once she actually started looking for them was staggering. They went back years, decades…even Nedley had signed a few of them off. Nicole found herself feeling slightly disappointed, but she should have known. Nedley was obviously doing what he felt was the right thing to protect the town, it wouldn’t do anyone any good if the people started to panic about monsters in their midst.

After nearly two hours of writing, with intermittent breaks to text back and forth with Waverly so they could organise their plans for that night, a knock sounded at Nicole’s door. Her brow furrowed, Waverly hadn’t mentioned anything about seeing her before she’d finished her shift at Shorty’s and Nicole had finished her own at the station.

Nicole pushed back from the table and peered through the viewer in her door. Her jaw set as she saw who was standing on the other side, a grin that told Nicole he was well aware she was currently watching him. Nicole opened the door and took one step out of her apartment, closing the door behind her. _He_ was not taking a single step inside her place.

“Bobo.” Nicole greeted coldly, she didn’t think it was possible to like him even less than she had before but there she was.

“I underestimated how much the Earp girls care about you, I won’t do that again.” Bobo grinned menacingly. “Next time-“

“Listen up, Bobo.” Nicole growled, it was the final straw for Nicole. She wasn’t in uniform and she wasn’t in the middle of town where anyone could see her.

Bobo wanted her to stop hiding away from who she was, what she was, and she was going to show him _exactly_ the person she was; someone who would not stand by as he threatened her or anyone she cared about. Her eyes and her forehead burned and she used every ounce of hatred for what she was to fuel her. She took another step forward, her and Bobo’s noses practically touching.

“There will not be a next time and if you even _think_ about looking at Waverly or Wynonna ever again, I will personally drag your ass over that boundary! I’ll suffer right there with you if I have to!”

Bobo took a step back, his eyes seemed to be registering just how serious Nicole was. She was not going to be threatened into shying away from her goal, protect the citizens of Purgatory just like Nedley needed her to _and_ help send every single Revenant back to hell.

“I think you should reconsider what you-” 

“No! I may not have been around, but I know damn well everything that went on in this town while I was gone, the attack on the homestead, killing a defenceless child?!” Nicole closed the gap between then, her finger prodding Bobo right in the chest and a look in his eye that Nicole didn’t understand but she did not have time to delve into whatever it was. “I care about Waverly, more than I care about myself…I’d do anything to protect her, so do _not_ tempt me!”

Bobo just stared at her, she had absolutely no idea what was going through his mind and after what felt like an eternity he simply turned and left with a snarl on his lips. Nicole stood leaning back against her front door as she tried to calm herself down. Had he simply taken her word that she was serious, or had she just made things a million times worse? Nicole’s chest started to heave at the possibility of Bobo taking out his rage from her speaking to him like that on either one of the Earps.

After watching the truck Bobo had climbed into drive off, she rushed back inside and got herself ready for work. Waverly and Wynonna were still at the station the last time she had texted so if Nicole made it there in good time, she could catch Waverly before she needed to start her shift. She did not want to give her an ominous warning via text.

 

Trying to sneak into the station without being seen before she was officially supposed to start work was easy, but getting into the Black Badge office without Nedley seeing her was the real challenge. Nicole ducked her head around the door to look into the bullpen, Nedley’s door was closed and before anyone else could see her she rushed through the door to Black Badge.

“Nicole?” Waverly eyed her curiously from her seat at a desk, as she closed the door and did a quick scan of who else was in there. Waverly seemed to be alone. Perfect. “Everything alright?”

“No…well I…uh, I don’t know.” Nicole had calmed down considerably since she’d spoken with Bobo but now, having to tell Waverly that she might have just made a big mistake, she was starting to panic again. “I might have threatened Bobo…a little aggressively.”

“What?!” Waverly was on her feet and rushing over to Nicole in an instant. She looked over her face, her hands, seemingly looking for any damage even though she would find none. Waverly seemed to calm when she realised Nicole wasn’t injured in any way. “Why would you do that?”

“He came to my home Waverly, _my home_ and he tried to threaten me with a ‘next time’ and I very quickly told him that there was not going to be any next time!” Nicole could feel her hatred for the man burning inside her but she tampered it down, she didn’t want Waverly to see her like that, not again. “But I threatened him and now I’m worried he’s going to come for you or Wynonna to get back at me…”

“Baby…” Waverly wound her hands around Nicole’s neck and Nicole willed herself to relax into it. If Waverly wasn’t freaking out, then maybe she didn’t need to be either. “Bobo doesn’t need to have any more reason to come for any of us…you literally couldn’t make the situation we are all in worse even if you tried.”

“Are you sure?” Nicole asked hesitantly, Waverly did have a point but the voice in the back of her head telling her to protect Waverly at any cost was not so keen to listen.

“Bobo has had multiple opportunities to hurt me and Wynonna, I don’t know why but he hasn’t taken them.” Waverly shrugged like that wasn’t a big deal, but Nicole could feel the growl growing within herself at the mere mention of Bobo having such opportunities. Waverly’s lips quirked up and she leaned up to rest her forehead against Nicole’s. “Just worry about protecting yourself from him and I’ll be happy, ok?”

“Ok…” Nicole softened and pulled Waverly closer with hands on her hips. She leaned down and pressed the lightest kiss to Waverly’s lips but Waverly didn’t seem to be happy with that. She gripped more firmly at the back of Nicole’s neck and deepened the kiss, her tongue gently sliding its way past Nicole’s lips.

“I’m really glad I’ll get to stay over tonight.” Waverly sighed as they separated, and Nicole smiled, gently running the tip of her nose along the side of Waverly’s.

“Me too…will you wait at Shorty’s until I can come and get you?” Nicole cringed as the words left her mouth, her intent far too obvious.

“I can look after myself, Nicole.” Waverly rolled her eyes but with a gentle smile and thankfully she didn’t look like she had taken Nicole’s comment too deeply to heart. “But if it’ll make you feel better then, yes.”

“It will…thank you.” Nicole leaned back in for one last quick kiss before she needed to start getting ready for her shift. “I’ll see you later.”

Nicole left the office far too distracted, her thoughts already on what her night with Waverly would entail. She didn’t see Nedley leaving his own office until it was too late and Nicole knew it was obvious what door she had just came come through. Nedley narrowed his eyes as he marched over to Nicole.

“Just checking in with Waverly, sir!” Nicole held her hands up as Nedley stopped a few feet in front of her and clicked his tongue. “I promise.”

“Right…well, you and Lonnie are on patrol tonight.” Nedley huffed as his hands came to rest on his belt, his no-nonsense stance. 

“Sir…” Nicole protested anyway, riding around with Lonnie was absolutely not what she wanted to be doing that night.

“Officer Haught.” Nedley held up a hand to silence any further objections and Nicole deflated. “I’d like him to learn a thing or two from your instincts.”

“Yes, sir.” Nicole sighed, it was a fruitless effort to muster any sort of enthusiasm for the shift ahead but she attempted it anyway.

Every single time Nedley gave her a task or imparted some small piece of wisdom onto Nicole, she felt horrible. She needed to tell Nedley to stop wasting his time grooming her for a position she would never be able to fill, she just did not want to see what was likely to be disappointment and confusion on his face when she did so. It was something she should want, she did want it…but that didn’t matter. Nicole wouldn’t be around long enough for that to happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me tell you, writing that FaceTime scene took me a really long time and was probably harder than writing a straight up smutty scene so I do hope you enjoyed it haha! 
> 
> Also, I know things are looking kinda bleak but I hope I still have your trust on this one! 
> 
> You can follow me/scream at me on Twitter - [@JNSbeth](https://twitter.com/JNSbeth)  
> 


	14. Fourteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only two more chapters to go after this one...and please keep in mind what I've said from the beginning. I would not write a sad ending for these two, I wouldn't do that to myself and I wouldn't get people invested in a story just to do that! 
> 
> With that in mind, I'm not going to lie, this chapter bummed be out big time whilst I was writing it so just fair warning. 
> 
> Thanks to [@luckywantstoknow](https://twitter.com/LuckyWantsTo) for beta duties!

Wynonna had really started to make a dent in the seventy-seven and it was almost entirely thanks to Nicole. Waverly had all of her research of course, but the additional information that Nicole was offering up had helped them identify previously unknown Revenants _and_ lead the team to locations where they would be able to find them and take them out without putting any more Purgatory citizens in danger. Waverly was incredibly impressed with Nicole’s cataloguing of individual Revenants movements and behaviour, it was clear that she’d been keeping an eye on them for a long time. There was one problem however…

Waverly knew Wynonna had started to wonder just how Nicole had managed to earn a Revenant’s trust so completely that they were forking over such valuable information. The dread only built as her sister wondered those thoughts aloud for the first time in Nicole’s presence. Waverly had no idea how good a poker face Nicole would have when she was inevitably confronted with this questioning. Nicole managed to stay calm and collected, as they held what had become a weekly secret meeting in Waverly’s old apartment above Shorty’s.

“I told him he’d be protected from the heir if he gave me the information I wanted.”

“But that’s a lie…” Wynonna narrowed her eyes at Nicole as she took a swig from the whiskey bottle in her hand.

“Of course, it’s a lie.” Nicole shrugged, still somehow maintaining her calm exterior as Waverly worried her face was giving entirely too much away. Thankfully Wynonna seemed far more preoccupied in giving Nicole an inquisitive once-over.

“I didn’t peg you for a liar.” Wynonna set the bottle down and pushed it towards Nicole, a look on her face that Waverly was certain said that Wynonna was actually impressed with Nicole. Nicole waved off the bottle but Waverly grabbed for it and took a long drink, her nerves clearly needed more settling than Nicole’s.

“I’ve been known to lie when I need to…and I never specified just _how_ long this protection would last. Plus…this is for the greater good.” Nicole looked to Waverly out of the corner of her eye and reached for her hand. She squeezed it gently and gave Waverly a small smile before refocusing on Wynonna. “So, once you’ve dealt with Jack, he’s got a lead on another Revenant that’s hiding out in the Pine Barrens.”

“Great and he’s sure this Jack is the one taking the girls off the highway? Even Bobo didn’t seem to know what we were talking about when I asked him.”

“He might not know but Bobo _is_ a good liar…” Nicole said, way too casually considering that as far as Wynonna knew he and Nicole had only met the once, and Nicole had been unconscious for most of it. Waverly squeezed Nicole’s hand under the table, hoping Nicole would understand what she was trying to tell her. “I mean…so I’ve heard.”

“Yeah…he is!” Wynonna nodded in agreement and Waverly’s shoulders relaxed.

“I’m not working for the next couple of days so if you wanted to do this soon, I could join you guys?” Nicole suggested almost excitedly, and Waverly frowned. She thought Nicole had agreed it was best for her to stay far away from any Revenants in the presence of Wynonna just in case they let slip what she was.

“As long as you’re the one that deals with Nedley if he finds out then I’m happy with that, I’m sure Dolls will be too.” Wynonna nodded as she reached for the bottle still gripped tightly in Waverly’s hands; she only released it when Wynonna gave a playful smack to her arm.

“Well, that’s all I’ve got for you today, give me a call when you want to do this!”

“I will and tell whatever his name is that as long as his information keeps churning out dead Revs then he’s safe.” Wynonna slapped the table and stood, throwing a farewell over her shoulder as she headed back down to the bar. No doubt to finish the rest of that bottle of whiskey before demanding that someone drive her home. 

“I thought you said you weren’t going to go on any of these missions?” Waverly huffed as she pulled her hand away from Nicole’s the moment Wynonna was far enough down the stairs that she wouldn’t hear them.

“Jack is dangerous…” Nicole sighed and pulled Waverly’s chair closer, she lay her hand palm up on her thigh and waited for Waverly’s to take hold of it again. Waverly took a measured breath before doing so, she wasn’t mad at Nicole, she was just worried. “Even with Doc and Dolls there, I’d feel better about Wynonna’s safety if I was there too. I’ll hang back, make sure he doesn’t see me, but I want to be there in case anything goes wrong.”

“Did you know him well?”

“Well enough…he is not someone you want to get his hands on your sister.” Nicole stroked a finger down Waverly’s cheek, the concern evident in her eyes and Waverly leaned into the comforting touch. It meant so much to Waverly that Nicole cared about Wynonna, almost as much as she cared about her. “Some victim’s files came across my desk a few weeks ago, Nedley and I have been working the case and I wanted to tell Wynonna about him sooner but I couldn’t until I’d made sure it was him.”

“Is that where you disappeared off to the other night?” Waverly asked with a raised eyebrow. She hadn’t mentioned to Nicole that she’d noticed her sneaking out at one in the morning and back in around four. She knew whatever it was had to be important or she would not have left the comfort of Waverly’s arms.

“Yeah.” Nicole nodded her head guiltily. “That and I needed to check that a few others were still hiding out where I thought they were…I can’t exactly do it while I’m on duty. Sorry...”

“It’s ok.” Waverly smiled softly as she shook her head, Nicole never needed to apologise for how much effort she was putting in to help them end the curse. “Just wake me up next time, so I can say goodbye properly.” Waverly leaned in to Nicole’s lips, the kiss quickly moving past chaste.

It was becoming a bit of a habit, getting hot and bothered right after their meetings with Wynonna. Waverly had never been more thankful that Gus hadn’t gotten rid of the bed up there. She knew why she felt the need to be close to Nicole afterwards; it seemed like with each meeting, Wynonna managed to take out one if not more Revenants. That meant they were getting closer and closer to having to tell Wynonna, and the closer they got the more Waverly’s confidence was wavering.

She needed Nicole’s touch to calm her, ground her in the moment where she and Nicole were all there was. No curse. No Peacemaker. No eternity in a fiery prison for the first person she had ever truly…

“Hey, where’d you go?” Nicole looked down at her as they lay on Waverly’s old bed.

Waverly couldn’t even remember how they’d made it over there and the concern etched on Nicole’s face made it so much worse. No one had _ever_ looked at Waverly the way that Nicole did, like she was the most important thing in the world. She couldn’t hold it in any longer and after weeks of staying strong the tears came thick and fast as she pulled Nicole down and clung to her like her life depended on it. Waverly was pretty sure it just might.

“Waves, what’s wrong?”

“I don’t know if I can do this, Nicole…I don’t know if I can let you go!” Waverly sobbed harder and Nicole’s arms wrapped her up as she placed kisses to Waverly’s temple. “There _has_ to be another way…some other way to break this stupid curse!”

“Baby…you said yourself that you spent years searching for a way to break it without Wynonna, only to come up empty.” Nicole spoke softly, and even though her words were breaking Waverly’s heart because there was only truth in them, the tenderness and care behind them began to calm her down. “I don’t want to leave you. If it was up to me I’d be by your side for as long as you wanted me to be but-“

“It’s not up to you.” Waverly finished for her as she sobbed again, burying her face in Nicole’s neck.

“No, Waves. It’s not.” Nicole took in a deep breath as she pressed the side of her face against Waverly’s cheek. “My fate was sealed a long time ago…but yours and Wynonna’s isn’t…or at least it doesn’t have to be! I want to make sure you are the last Earps to ever have to deal with this.”

Nicole had always sounded so genuine about her want to end the curse, even when Waverly wasn’t completely sure if she believed her or not. This time was no different and Waverly, as always, appreciated just how much Nicole cared. Not just for her and Wynonna, but for everyone with the Ghost River Triangle who, whether they knew it or not, were constantly living in danger.

It only made Waverly’s tears come harder, the absurdity of it all that the most kind-hearted person Waverly had ever had the pleasure to meet was destined to burn because of a single choice she’d made and regretted every day since. It wasn’t fair…but there hadn’t been much about Waverly’s life that was so why would this be any different?

“I wish I’d never met you…” Waverly cried, even though she didn’t mean a single word. Nicole seemed to understand, a sad smile gracing her lips and a few tears of her own falling as Waverly lifted her head to look her in the eye.

“I know, baby…” Nicole nodded solemnly. “But I am _so glad_ that I got to know you.” Nicole let out a staggered breath and Waverly swallowed it with a kiss.

 

\---------

 

Nicole knew she was being followed. Ever since that day Bobo had come by her apartment and she had stupidly threatened him. Whichever Revenant was doing his dirty work was keeping their distance though, they never seemed to come closer than a hundred yards or so away from her apartment when she was at home and she rarely spotted the car while she was out on patrol.

She knew the safest place for the meetings she was having with Wynonna and oftentimes Dolls and Doc too, realistically, was the Earp homestead. That wasn’t an option, obviously, but she couldn’t have them all in her apartment while she was being watched without looking even more suspicious than she was sure she already was. That was why Nicole had practically jumped at Waverly’s idea of using her old apartment without even knowing about Nicole’s fears, whomever was following her would not think twice about her hitting the bar after a long day at work and she wouldn’t have to worry Waverly anymore than she already was by telling her what was going on.

So far it hadn’t gotten worse. There had been no more attempts by Bobo to scare her or even get her attention, he hadn’t tried to keep her away from the Earps or god forbid hurt Waverly, but Nicole felt like something was coming. They had to know what she was up to, or at least have a pretty good idea. So many Revenants had been taken out in the past month or so that they simply had to. This was not like any heir before, even Edwin didn’t have such an easy time of it.

Nicole was trying to keep tabs on both Earps as best she could, the easiest way to get Nicole to comply with Bobo’s will was to threaten either of them and she was sure they knew it. It wasn’t easy, not while keeping on top of her actual job and all of her running around to make sure that the file she had now finished on the Revenants was actually up to date, but it was worth it. If anything happened to either of them, she knew it would be her fault. The Revenants had put very little stock in Wynonna ending the curse but now…that had drastically changed.

Those that followed Bobo’s every word like gospel no longer looked uneasy when they saw Nicole. They were causing more problems around town than ever before and Nicole was certain it was time to put all of her information on exactly who was and who was not a Revenant in that trailer park to good use. The sooner they were gone from Purgatory, the more time they could spend rounding up the rest. 

Waverly had told Nicole on multiple occasions how the entire team was worried about going in magical gun blazing. They would be outmatched if Dolls and Doc weren’t able to slow down the Revenants before they took Wynonna out, but picking out who would actually die from a bullet to the chest and who would simply recover was not an easy task. Waverly’s research was great, incredibly comprehensive in fact, but there were plenty that she had not been able to identify. 

Nicole had tried to convince Waverly just to take everything Nicole had gathered to the team and present it to them, but Waverly insisted it was too risky. Sadly, Nicole had to agree that it would likely expose her. There was just no way that Waverly or Nicole would be able to convince Wynonna that she’d gotten all that information from her non-existent informant in such a short period of time. That left only one option.

It was time to let Wynonna know exactly who and what Nicole was. 

Wynonna had seemed like an even bigger fan of Nicole’s since they had taken down Jack. Jack had spotted Nicole at one point but luckily Doc managed to sneak up on him and knock him out before he’d had the chance to say anything to reveal Nicole’s identity. Nicole had gone back and forth on bringing Doc in on the reveal but ultimately, she decided against it. If Wynonna found out that one more person had been keeping this secret from her, it might just blow up in their faces even worse than finding out just Waverly had been lying to her. Nicole was positive that it was unlikely Wynonna would warm up to any more than she already had, if she didn’t accept Nicole’s word as the truth now...she never would. 

If Wynonna trusted Nicole, then she could roll right into the trailer park with them and they could take them all out without any unnecessary death. The humans in there may have aligned themselves with pretty much the worst people imaginable but that didn’t mean they deserved to die for them. Nicole couldn’t let that happen.

Nicole was seated on her couch, anxiously bouncing her knee as she waited for Waverly to come by before her shift at Shorty’s. She wasn’t sure how Waverly would react when she told her how soon she wanted to tell Wynonna. Waverly seemed to be doing better after her little breakdown the previous week, but Nicole would still catch her watching with sad eyes whenever she thought Nicole wasn’t paying attention.

The moment Waverly pushed through Nicole’s door, using the spare key Nicole had given her for whenever she needed it, Nicole jumped up from her seat.

“I think we need to tell Wynonna!”

“Woah…” Waverly took a step back and Nicole realised how close she was standing. “Hello to you too…”

“Sorry…hey!” Nicole grimaced and pulled Waverly forward to kiss her, surreptitiously looking out the still open door to her apartment. She couldn’t see her follower, but she did not trust that they weren’t somewhere nearby. She pulled Waverly all the way inside while maintaining their locked lips and closed the door behind her. “I’ve been thinking about it all day and I just needed to get it out.” Nicole released a sigh as they parted and Waverly wrapped her hands around the back of her neck, concerned eyes peering up at Nicole.

“Alright…but why now? Why not wait a little longer?” Waverly’s worry was so clear and Nicole hated that she was seeing it more and more. They couldn’t put this off forever and if Nicole was right in her fears, they were almost out of time.

“I think Bobo is planning something…and if Wynonna finds out from him instead of from us then that would be-“

“Shit…yeah, that would be bad. Really bad! Ok…so, how are we going to do this?”

“I was thinking dinner, here. Maybe this weekend?” Nicole would have preferred sooner but with either her or Waverly working every day until the weekend, it just didn’t seem likely that they’d get the time and relative calm needed to disclose the truth to Wynonna.

“And you’re sure you don’t want Doc here? He’d be more than happy to vouch for you!”

“No. If Wynonna gets pissed…” Which Nicole was absolutely positive she would be. “The fewer people for her to be pissed at for my problems, the better! If you’d let me do this on my own and pretend you didn’t have a clue, I would.”

“I know.” Waverly nodded with a sad smile as she moved her palm to rest over Nicole’s heart. “You really are a good person, Nicole. I’ll speak to her about setting up dinner here on Saturday. Just the three of us.”

“Yeah…Saturday…” Nicole took a steadying breath; would Friday be her last night with Waverly? That was a mere three days away and if she was gone after that then she needed to know that Waverly was going to be safe.

Nicole may have cashed in the only favour she had with a fellow Revenant, but if there was even the smallest chance that he would consider protecting Waverly after Nicole was gone then she had to try. Nicole decided to focus her attention back on the woman still in front of her, she could think about that miniscule chance all evening while Waverly was at work. She didn’t want to waste another second of the time she had left to spend with Waverly. 

Nicole kissed her, slow and strong until Waverly’s hands snaked up the back of Nicole’s top and Nicole let out a breathy moan. Waverly’s hands were always a little cold against her slightly-warmer-than average human’s skin. Hellfire tended to do that to a person. It was a solid reminder though, of Waverly’s feelings for her. In spite of everything, Waverly wanted her.

She pulled Waverly with her as she fell back on the couch, not willing to break the kiss. It felt desperate and so did she, but she couldn’t find it in her to care. Nicole pulled at Waverly’s jean button insistently, getting it open just before Waverly pulled back and looked at her with a furrowed brow.

“Are you ok?”

“I’m fine,” Nicole said before pulling Waverly back into her but Waverly planted her hands on Nicole’s chest to stop herself from being taken any further.

Nicole sagged back against the couch and lay her head back. Her throat was tight and she was sure her bottom lip was trembling.

“Baby…” Waverly gently lay her head down on Nicole’s chest and instantly Nicole had her arms around Waverly, holding her tighter than she ever had before. “It’s ok to be scared…I’m scared too.”

“I am scared,” Nicole confirmed. She knew that this was going to happen…she wanted it to happen. Eventually. What she was truly scared of though, was forgetting Waverly and forgetting how Waverly made her feel.

She had never told Waverly of the horrors she would face once she was sent down again, she was pretty sure she didn’t need to. Waverly’s face had told her more than once that she had an idea. If through all of that, Nicole forgot about how she felt when they were like this, just the two of them, she knew that would be worse than any torture she would endure.

Nicole buried her face into Waverly’s hair, taking deep breaths and hoping that somehow once she was gone, that smell would manage to linger even if she didn’t know where it had come from.

“She’d going to understand…she’s going to be _pissed_ but she’ll understand.” Waverly pushed herself up to look Nicole in the eye. “More than that, she’s going to be grateful! Everything you’ve done for her…for me, she can’t just forget about that.”

“I really hope you’re right.” Nicole sighed as Waverly settled back down onto Nicole’s front.

“Can we just stay like this for a while?” Waverly nuzzled into Nicole’s neck and Nicole nodded. She might have wanted to feel close to Waverly, to just _feel_ Waverly but holding her was more than enough.

“Yeah…this is good, baby.” Nicole could feel Waverly’s smile against her skin and she knew Waverly had no clue that tears were about to come streaming down Nicole’s cheeks. “This is perfect.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As we near the end of this fic I just want to say how grateful I am that there are people who like to read what I post, it's always great to read your comments. 
> 
> Chapter 15 is one of my favourites for this fic and so I'm a little nervous to post it next week but I really hope you like it! 
> 
> You can follow me on Twitter - [@JNSbeth](https://twitter.com/JNSbeth)  
> 


	15. Fifteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I said last week that I was nervous about posting this chapter and that is still true, mainly because it's become one of my favourites from this fic. I really do hope you like it! 
> 
> The fantastic [@luckywantstoknow](https://twitter.com/LuckyWantsTo) deserves endless thanks for beta-ing this whole thing for me! When I said I wanted to write a Revenant!Nicole fic she was so up for it and I'm so so grateful for the encouragement <3

Waverly wasn’t the least bit comfortable with Nicole going to meet this Revenant on her own. Nicole was convinced that Bobo was planning something and although Nicole had assured her that she trusted this guy enough to know he wouldn’t be in on it, Waverly still hated it.

They had two days before they were going to tell Wynonna and Waverly was trying to stay positive about it. She knew it wasn’t working, though, when all she wanted to do was cling to Nicole at any chance she got. Every single time she thought about the words leaving Nicole’s mouth, all she saw was Wynonna going for her gun. Worse still, Waverly couldn’t stop imagining what could possibly happen in the time before they told Wynonna for her to find out on her own.

They were so close and if she found out before they had the chance to tell her themselves…Waverly had thought about it enough while she was alone and every time she did, she broke down in tears. The idea that she had to lose Nicole at all was devastating but the only thing that would make it worse was not being able to say goodbye.

Waverly had almost told Nicole she loved her when she crawled into her bed early that morning after her shift. She had planned to go back to the Homestead since Wynonna wanted to go over some research with her, Dolls, and Doc in the morning, but she was not missing out on a night in Nicole’s arms. Not after an entire shift where she had been distracted beyond belief by her inescapable thoughts of Nicole’s destruction.

She wasn’t exactly sure what had stopped her from saying the words…she knew she would have meant them, but she didn’t want it to seem like she was simply telling her because she was scared. Scared that she wouldn’t ever get the chance.

Nicole had told her the details for where she was meeting him, what time she thought she would be done so Waverly had the option of checking in with her if she wanted. Nicole didn’t tell her _why_ exactly she needed to meet him though, only that it was important and that it could help all of them if it went well. Waverly had to hold herself back from begging to know what Nicole was doing, she trusted her. If she promised it was important then it had to be and if she promised everything was going to be fine…then everything was going to be fine.

Waverly arrived at the Homestead, ready to dive into some distraction until she could call Nicole and confirm just how fine it had been, but Wynonna was nowhere to be found. Doc was sitting at the kitchen table, a rolled cigarette hanging from his lips and a glass of what Waverly could only assume was something alcoholic sitting in front of him.

“Bit early for a drink isn’t it, Doc?”

“Well, if your sister or Deputy Marshall Dolls were here I would have something else to occupy my time.” Doc grinned as he swirled his glass before bringing it up to his lips. Waverly frowned, Wynonna hadn’t said anything about running late.

“Yeah…where are they?” Waverly did a quick assessment of the kitchen, someone had definitely attempted to make some form of breakfast so Wynonna had to have been there at some point.

“Dolls I do not know, but Wynonna disappeared about an hour ago and said she would be back soon.” Doc shrugged, clearly unperturbed by being made to wait as long as he had his drink. “She said she needed to check on something.”

“Something? How specific…” Waverly rolled her eyes, if she had known that Wynonna was going to be late she would have at least stopped to grab a decent coffee on her way back to the Homestead.

It felt like Waverly had barely stepped foot in her room for weeks, so she headed upstairs and left Doc to his own devices. She figured it was probably about time she did some laundry, so she could stop having to borrow things from Nicole. Not that she minded, in fact she really liked walking around with the smell of Nicole surrounding her all day, but they definitely didn’t fit quite as well as her own clothes.

She grabbed an armful from the pile that had steadily been increasing each time she popped back to the Homestead, long enough to dump clothes but never long enough to actually wash them. As she passed Wynonna’s room on her way to the machine she saw some clothes strewn about the floor and decided she could add them in with her load, make up for how little time she’d been spending at home lately.

As she bent down to pick them up, a small piece of paper sticking out of a pocket in a pair of discarded jeans caught her eye. She knew she shouldn’t pry…but she couldn’t help herself. Waverly set all of the clothes down on Wynonna’s unmade bed, so she could pull the paper out the pocket and get a good look at what seemed like a messily written note.

_Gus saw her talking with Bobo!!_  
_When?_  
_Before he “took her”??_  
_Is Nicole working for Bobo???_

Waverly heart was stuck in her throat. Underneath Wynonna’s questions there was a very crude timeline which Waverly was certain was not completely correct, but Wynonna had circled two dates. One was the night Nicole was taken and one before that, which had to be the day Gus had seen Nicole talking with Bobo. _Dammit Gus._

“Shit.” Waverly’s mind went into full blown panic mode. She clutched the piece of paper to her suddenly heaving chest.

Sure, the writing looked very much like that of a drunken Wynonna but she’d clearly been sober enough to figure out something was off.

“Shit…Doc!” Waverly sprinted through to the kitchen and shoved the note in his face. “She knows, Doc! She _knows!_ ”

“Well…maybe not?” Doc shook his head as he focussed on the words in front of him, reading through them again and furrowing his brow. Waverly bounced on her heels, ready to run out the door and find Nicole hopefully still standing. “She seems to just not trust that Nicole is not working _with_ the Revenants…not that she _is_ one of them.”

“Well that’s not good either, is it?!” Waverly began pacing; they’d waited too long to tell Wynonna and now she was going to figure it out on her own. “Shit! Is this the ‘something’ she went to check on?!” Waverly gasped as she shook the piece of paper in her hand.

“Where is Officer Haught right now?” Doc stood from his chair and took measured steps towards Waverly, like any movement too sudden would send her running.

“She went to meet someone…a Revenant. Said it was important for all of us…oh god, if Wynonna finds Nicole with _him_ she’ll only suspect her more!”

“Waverly…you need to calm down.” Doc gently set his hands on her shoulders and squeezed just enough to get her to focus on his face. “What did Nicole tell Wynonna she has been doing all this time to get the information on the Revenants?”

“Wynonna thinks she’s been meeting with her informant…a Revenant.” Waverly took a steadying breath, maybe Doc had a point.

“Exactly…so, all she has to do is say that he is her informant and it will be alright.”

“But if she doesn’t _trust_ her…why would she believe her?” Waverly began to shake, Wynonna was impulsive at the best of time and if she thought Nicole was working against them or using Waverly to get close to the heir then who knew what she might do. Before Waverly could completely lose her cool, Doc pulled her in for a hug and her breathing began to slow.

“Just call Nicole. I am sure all is well and Wynonna was simply being cautious.” Doc pulled back but held on tight to her shoulders, his eyes appraising her for any more signs of distress. “There is no way to tell when she even wrote this, Waverly.”

“Yeah…ok.” Waverly nodded, he was right. For all she knew Wynonna had written it in anger the night Waverly had arrived home after her and Nicole had fought…or on any day that followed until they got back together. It wasn’t like Wynonna did her laundry regularly. “You’re probably right…I’m just being paranoid. Nicole and I are going to tell her everything soon so... I’m just a little on edge.”

“Understandable…but Nicole has been a great friend to your sister and an ally when she needs one the most.” Doc squeezed her shoulders one last time before releasing her and giving her a comforting smile. “Call her, it will put your mind at ease.”

“Yeah. I’ll call her.” Waverly nodded. She shouldn’t be freaking out before she had any real reason to, it didn’t help anything. She reached into her back pocket for her phone, ready to call Nicole and calm her fears altogether but before she could, her phone rang in her hand. The picture of her and Nicole that Waverly had saved to her contact lit up the screen and she smiled, instantly relaxing. Nicole was fine. “Hey, baby!”

 

\--------

 

Wynonna thought she just might be being a little over cautious…but when it came to Waverly, she would do anything to protect her. Even if that meant breaking the spell of happiness she was under by exposing her girlfriend as the liar she was…and definitely _not_ just a liar for the sake of the ‘greater good’.

She hadn’t been particularly suspicious at first but far too many things just didn’t seem to add up about Nicole. She got cagey whenever Wynonna asked about her family or her life before Purgatory, not suspicious on its own necessarily but it wasn’t the only thing that had Wynonna feeling sceptical.

Nicole wouldn’t reveal the name of the Revenant she was supposedly getting her information from, even when Wynonna promised they’d be safe as long as the information kept coming. Nicole knew what he was, what he and his like were capable of so why even bother protecting him? If it had been up to Wynonna and Wynonna alone, they wouldn’t be trusting a Revenant at all, but no one seemed to believe that Wynonna was going to be able to end this curse without help. She would be lying if she said it didn’t sting just a little that even Waverly thought it was necessary but that was not clouding her judgement and she knew it. 

What Wynonna found most intriguing though was that Gus had _seen_ Nicole talking to Bobo. Gus was positive that it seemed like they knew each other, like they were having some sort of disagreement and from what Gus said, it was well before Nicole had apparently been kidnapped by him and his band of merry assholes. Wynonna hadn’t thought much of it at the time but now that the pieces were all falling into place, she couldn’t just ignore the evidence. Nicole _had_ been pretty easy to rescue and she barely had a scratch on her. Not even a bruise that Wynonna could see. She had to be hiding something.

Wynonna knew that Waverly falling for Nicole was real…perhaps the most real thing that Waverly had ever experienced, and Wynonna had thought it seemed real for Nicole too at first. If she really was _that_ good of a liar, Wynonna was not about to let her get away with it any longer. It was unquestionably going to hurt Waverly to start with, but she would get over it, once the truth was revealed she’d never want to see Nicole’s face again.

No matter how hard Wynonna had tried, she just didn’t trust Nicole and the evidence was mounting up. Wynonna knew she wasn’t working, she had checked at the station and she knew that Waverly had said Nicole was busy, so couldn’t make it to the meeting at the Homestead. Nicole had to be meeting with Bobo or one of the Revenants she was working for. Her story of the informant was simply too good to be true and Waverly was just too blinded by her feelings to see it.

No Revenant would be dumb enough to give up information for protection they had to know they would never actually get. Nicole had to be getting the information for a reason and as far as Wynonna could tell, it seemed that all of the Revenants Nicole’s ‘informant’ was handing over were not in Bobo’s inner circle. That positively screamed suspicious. The idea that Bobo might simply be using Wynonna to take out Revenants he couldn’t get to follow his orders had found its place front and center in Wynonna’s head and she was not going to be played like that. Not by him.

Wynonna just wished she knew why. Why would Nicole work for him when she knew exactly what they were? Did she even know before she started working for him and if she didn’t, could she now not get out of whatever deal she had made? If that was the case Wynonna didn’t know why she wouldn’t just come to her or Waverly and ask her for help…it all added up to Nicole’s guilt and full complicity in whatever game Bobo was playing, and Wynonna was going to prove it.

She followed Nicole out near the town limits, stopping Gus’ truck far enough away that she wouldn’t be spotted or at least she hoped so. Nicole walked a short distance, she definitely seemed cautious of anyone following her and Wynonna felt the tiniest bit smug that she had so far passed unnoticed. Nicole leaned against a fence post and took out her phone, she looked to be typing something until a man…no, _a Revenant_ Wynonna recognised caught her and Nicole’s eye at the same time. Wynonna gritted her teeth; she could be wrong in her thinking and this was simply the informant she had made them believe she was using. Part of her wanted to be wrong, for Waverly. 

Nicole shook his hand and handed him an envelope, he opened it and nodded before putting it inside his jacket. Wynonna could see their lips moving but she was too far away to hear what was being said, she knew she needed to get closer. Using what little cover there was, she got as close as she could but still she couldn’t hear a thing. She needed to know what was going on and when the Revenant started to shake his head she wished she was as good a lip reader as Waverly.

This had to be some sort of deal…and he was not on board with whatever Nicole wanted. He was just about to head towards where Wynonna was hiding, and she was ready to move back and find more cover, but Nicole reached out and grabbed him. Pulling him back to stand in front of her with a strength she absolutely should not have.

“What the fu-” Wynonna cut herself off as both heads whipped towards her position and she stumbled backwards, cracking a branch as she went. Her eyes met Nicole’s…only they were not the positively sickening brown that delivered those goddamn googly eyes to Waverly, they were red. _Revenant_ red and Wynonna ripped Peacemaker from its holster as she thundered forward.

“Shit! The heir!” the now completely and utterly irrelevant man yelled as he yanked himself out of Nicole’s grip and made a break for it.

Wynonna didn’t break eye contact with Nicole as she stalked forward and let the shot ring out. She didn’t need to look to know he was swallowed up by the fire and dragged back where he belonged.

“You bitch!” Wynonna roared as she continued her approach. Nicole wouldn’t get very far but Wynonna was still surprised she wasn’t at least trying to escape. “I knew you were working for Bobo!”

“I’m not working for Bobo, Wynonna.” Nicole sighed as her shoulders slumped and Wynonna stopped in her tracks. What game was she playing now? Why deny what Wynonna knew to be true when her fate was already sealed? Why not even _try_ to get away?

“Bullshit!” Wynonna stared down the barrel as the skin on Nicole’s forehead blazed in tandem with Peacemaker. “You’re one of them!”

“Wynonna…can we just talk about this?” Nicole voice was deeper, more like what Wynonna was used to when Revenants begged for their lives or promised they’d be back. It made Wynonna’s skin crawl.

“Not a chance.” Wynonna tightened her grip on Peacemaker and held the aim firmly to Nicole’s head. Wynonna was seething, this was so much worse than she had feared. Waverly had been sleeping with…she’d fallen for a fucking Revenant. She was going to be heartbroken, worse than heartbroken. This was going to completely destroy her baby sister.

“Ok…so are you going to shoot me or…?”

 

\-------

 

Nicole didn’t know what was happening. This was not at all like the time before. 

Nicole knew what was supposed to happen now but what was _supposed_ to happen, didn’t. Not as fast as it had the times before anyway, or had she simply forgotten about this part? 

She didn’t know...but _something_ was telling her she didn’t need to be afraid. 

 

What Nicole did know was that one second she was sure she was on her way back to hell and the next, she felt peaceful, _safe._ Potentially the safest she’d ever felt, second only to when she slept with an arm wound tight around her, an arm that belonged to… _who?_

 

Why couldn’t she remember? 

 

Nicole wasn’t sure how but she knew she was somewhere she never thought she’d get to experience. The darkness and sheer emptiness around her and how she felt buoyant within it should have been terrifying...but Nicole felt nothing but calm. 

 

Before she had the time to question why or even _how_ it was happening, a sound came to her, one she couldn’t even begin to describe. It almost felt like static, working its way towards her from every possible direction at once. 

“Hello?” Nicole spoke and a unclear memory of words her voice had spoken flew through her mind.

_I love you...more than I’ve ever loved anyone._

When had she said that? _Who_ had she uttered such powerful words to? 

 

Nicole swore she heard _something_ in response. Too muffled for her to make out. 

 

“Is someone there?” She listened hard and heard it again. Was is it simply an echo? “Hello?” 

 

“Hello.” It finally became clear. It was a voice. Soft, familiar, almost like… 

It had been so long Nicole couldn’t be sure but the reaction the voice stirred deep within her being made her absolutely certain.

“Mom...”

“My baby.” Nicole felt the words envelope her in a peace she hadn’t felt since she was a child. “I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too…I’ve missed you so much.” Nicole didn’t know how it was possible when she had no sense of where she began and the vastness around her ended, but she knew she was crying. Tears of joy and sorrow and so much shame but Nicole didn’t know _why_. 

“I thought you’d come eventually...it’s been so long.”

“I’m sorry, I...” Memories flooded in, a clear explanation for all that shame. Anger and hatred and _blood_ ... too much blood. A mistake. “I-” 

“I know…” Her mother’s voice was not tinged with the distaste or horror that Nicole had feared and she had no idea how. She remembered feeling guilty about running away. She remembered never knowing if her mother ever found out what she did. “Do you know why you’re here now?”

“No.” Nicole answered honestly. “W-why am I here?” 

 

Nicole couldn’t remember...but there were glimpses of smiles, the most beautiful smile and the most beautiful laughter. Lingering touches and arms wrapped around something, _someone_ she knew she would do anything to keep safe. 

 

A memory of her hands pushing someone, of words falling from his mouth and the anger it flared in her chest. She threatened him...Bobo.

 

Nicole could feel the distaste of everything he and anyone that followed him stood for on her tongue. The distaste of how she had it inside of her to be just like them was almost as strong. 

 

“I shouldn’t be here. I’m like them.”

“Oh, my sweet Nicole. No...you’re not. Not in the ways that matter. You’ve done good...even after everything.” 

Memories coursed through Nicole like shockwaves. The fire, the torture, the never ending pain. The feeling of everything she had ever been being dragged away from her and her absolute unwillingness to just let it go, to forget what really mattered. Helping people, protecting the people she cared about…

Flashes of a uniform, a vehicle with bright lights and kind faces welcoming her. A sense of purpose and duty. Had she been helping people? She wished she could hold on to a singular blip of a memory but they all faded and she was left confused again. 

 

“I’ve done good?” 

“Yes...and you shouldn’t be here.” Her mother’s voice was fading and Nicole wanted to reach out, pull it back and never let it go again but she couldn’t. “You’ve got more work to do...I’m so proud of you Nicole.”

 

Nicole was alone again. Sobbing into the vast emptiness around her. What had she done to make her mother _proud?_ Every memory she tried to latch onto to understand what was going on faded before she had a chance to. 

“Mom?” Nicole sobbed, she needed to know what was happening but there was no answer to her cry. 

 

Nicole felt like she too would simply fade into the void until a pressure hit her chest.

Suddenly she could feel her form. 

Her fingers, her palms, her arms, her shoulders and the solid pressure hit her chest again and again. She could feel every inch of herself and every inch felt immeasurably cold but there was a singular source of warmth…her lips? _No_ ...something warm and solid and far too memorable pressed _against_ her lips. 

Nicole latched onto the feeling even after the warmth dissipated, trying to force herself to remember where she had felt it before when the pressure on her chest returned, and with it a voice.

“Nicole! Nicole! Please!”

Nicole tried to answer the desperate cries coming from a voice that she couldn’t put a name or face to but still somehow knew, without a shadow of a doubt, was everything to her. 

Nothing came out, only the feeling of air rushing in. Air filling her lungs as the warmth to her lips returned and her heart delivered a giant thud in her chest.

The emptiness around her started to shift and she braced for the fire and the pain to finally devour her as a blinding light consumed the darkness. 

Nicole’s eyes flew open as she took what felt like her first _real_ breath in over a century and the owner of the voice that she couldn’t place finally earned a name as she hovered above her, a gentle hand over Nicole’s now steadily beating heart. 

 

_Waverly_ .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See you next week for the final chapter...and probably some kind of explanation ;) 
> 
> You can follow me on Twitter - [@JNSbeth](https://twitter.com/JNSbeth)  
> 


	16. Sixteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well we've come to the end of yet another fic and once again I'm sad to see it finish :( 
> 
> Thank you to everyone who's read this, left a comment/kudos or shared/retweeted it on twitter. It means a lot and I'd give you all a huge hug if I could but you'll just have to settle for a virtual one! 
> 
> This fic wouldn't be half as good without the work of my excellent beta [@luckywantstoknow](https://twitter.com/LuckyWantsTo) and so for the last time on this fic, thank you!! 
> 
> Happy reading :D

“Seriously...how is this even possible?!” Wynonna had already asked that question so many times that Waverly had lost count, now she was pacing back and forth behind her and Waverly was starting to feel dizzy. 

It probably had more to do with all those breaths she had just given Nicole but Wynonna was certainly not helping. Doc was simply sat in the corner, seemingly lost in thought. She was freaking out just as much as they were but she couldn’t let it show.

“I don’t know.” Waverly said softly, her hand coming to rest on Nicole’s cheek. She looked so disoriented, tired and like she might just throw up at any second, but she was _there._ She had been _shot_ by Peacemaker and she was still there. Tears that had been falling since the moment Nicole had hung up on her still made their way down her cheeks. “Hey baby.”

“Hi.” Nicole croaked as she tried to sit up but immediately fell back onto the couch. “Where am I?”

“The Homestead.” Waverly smiled, still not quite believing it but Nicole jumped up from the couch as she clutched at her chest, eyes wild. “It’s ok…you’re ok!”

“How…am I _here_ ?”

“I don’t know…but you are.” Waverly ran her hands down Nicole’s trembling arms, willing her to calm. “Wynonna, you wanna?” Waverly turned her head quickly towards her sister and gave her a slight nod before turning back to Nicole who still looked utterly confused. She wasn’t sure how Nicole would react but she knew this needed to happen…so she would _know_ .

Wynonna stood beside Nicole and slowly lifted Peacemaker from her side. Like a spooked horse, Nicole tried to back away, but Waverly held her gently with a “wait, baby,” so she could see the gun do a fat load of nothing. Nicole stared at Peacemaker blankly before her eyes slowly travelled up to meet Wynonna’s.

“How is…what?!” Nicole asked Wynonna before gaping wide eyed at Waverly and then Doc. “How is that possible?”

“We don’t know.” Waverly smiled again, she couldn’t help it. Even with Nicole still looking absolutely terrified. Peacemaker hadn’t given the slightest flicker of a glow while Nicole laid on the couch and now that she was conscious again, still nothing.

“What happened after Wynonna…?” Nicole’s eyes focussed on the barrel of the gun and Waverly gently turned her head towards her own with a finger under her chin. 

“She said you just fell to the ground. No blood, no pulse…but no ground swallowing you up either.” Waverly quickly shot a look to her sister, she wasn’t happy with Wynonna, but Waverly knew she couldn’t get hung up on it. Nicole was standing right in front of her, despite Wynonna’s best effort to make sure that wasn’t the case and she had to let it go. Wynonna did it because Nicole told her to, she wasn’t happy about that either but she wasn’t surprised. “Wynonna said the wound started to close almost as quickly as she’d made it.”

“Peacemaker went…blue,” Wynonna said quietly as she lowered the gun.

“What?!” Waverly and Doc demanded at the same time.

Waverly turned to face her sister head on, why hadn’t she mentioned that before? “How could you not think that was important information to share with us before?!”

“I was a little distracted.” Wynonna shrugged as her eyes lingered on Nicole and Waverly subdued her frustration.

Wynonna _had_ been a little busy, calling Waverly to tell her what had happened, struggling to get Nicole’s body to the truck and then calling Waverly again to confirm that she wanted her taken to the Homestead. Waverly didn’t know what would happen when Nicole crossed the boundary onto Earp land but a Revenant being shot in the head by Peacemaker and not immediately getting taken down wasn’t something that had happened before either and Waverly was not in any fit state to get behind the wheel.

“It’s never done that before right?” Waverly looked to Wynonna for confirmation.

“Not as far as I know.” Wynonna nodded before throwing the gun down onto the coffee table and collapsing onto the couch. Nicole jumped a little as the gun impacted with the wood and Waverly placed her hands gently onto the sides of her face. Nicole’s eyes were fixed on Peacemaker again, no doubt just as confused as the rest of them were. “And now it’s doing jack shit _and_ you’re on the Homestead so I’m going to say you’re not a Revenant anymore but hell if I know how that’s possible!”

“I was with my mother…” Nicole whispered, her eyes still glued to the gun.

“What, baby?” Waverly was sure she’d heard her correctly…she didn’t exactly know what it meant but she couldn’t stop herself from hoping.

“I was with my mother…she said I shouldn’t be _there_ …with her and I thought I was going to go back down. That there’d been some kind of mistake but then I woke up here.” Nicole’s eyes met Waverly’s and the distress in them seemed to disappear for a moment, but it didn’t last long. She furrowed her brow and fell back onto the couch and out of Waverly’s touch as she squeezed her eyes shut tight. “She said I had work to do.”

“Baby…” Waverly leaned forward, her hands finding their place against Nicole’s cheeks again. She didn’t like how pale Nicole looked, this was a lot to deal with so quickly without trying to unpack what _that_ meant. “How about I take you upstairs and you can rest for a bit? Then we’ll figure this whole thing out, ok?”

Nicole nodded, the hints of a grateful smile on her lips and Waverly encouraged her to stand. Doc rushed over to help get her on her feet and she nodded a thanks to him dumbly before Waverly led her upstairs, taking each step as slowly as Nicole needed.

The realisation only hit Waverly as she sat Nicole down on the edge of her bed that Nicole had never seen her bedroom before. Not in person anyway, seeing tiny glimpses over FaceTime or in the selfies Waverly had sent to her felt very different from this. Waverly worried her lip as she looked around her room, she had obviously not been expecting Nicole to see it today…or ever.

She had been to Nicole’s place more times than she could count and slept in her bed on most of those visits. Now with Nicole sitting on the edge of her bed, in her childhood bedroom, she was more nervous than she’d ever been around Nicole. Champ had never even seen this part of Waverly’s life…she’d never wanted him to.

“You alright?” Nicole reached out her hand and Waverly nodded as she took it firmly in her own. She let the contact relax her, she wanted Nicole to be here…more than anything. “Is it weird? Me being here?”

“No!” Waverly rushed out as she moved to sit beside Nicole on the bed. “I just wasn’t expecting it to happen…ever, and now you’re here and…and _human!”_ Waverly couldn’t help but smile again but when she looked up from where their hands were connected she saw Nicole’s brow furrowed in thought.

“Am I…human?”

“I think so…I guess we’ll have to run some tests. We can ask Dolls for help figuring out exactly what happened but for now, can we just enjoy the fact that you’re still here?” Waverly lifted Nicole’s hand to her lips and kissed it gently as Nicole’s lips softened into a smile.

Waverly guided Nicole to lie down and quickly lay down beside her. She was trying desperately not to cry again, she’d done enough of that already. She thought she’d lost Nicole, thought she’d never get to see her again and now she was in her bed, on the Homestead…and she was human. Waverly was certain of it.

She turned on her side and nestled back in Nicole’s front as Nicole’s arms pulled her even closer and she placed a tender kiss to Waverly’s neck. Waverly fought back the question she so desperately wanted to ask, they had time and Nicole needed to rest.

“What is it?”

“How do you do that?” Waverly laughed as she shook her head in disbelief. Nicole always seemed to know when something was on her mind. Nicole didn’t answer, she just kissed Waverly’s neck again and rest her chin on Waverly’s shoulder, waiting patiently for Waverly to answer. “What you said…on the phone. Did you mean it?”

“Every word,” Nicole replied easily, and Waverly’s whole body relaxed in relief. She had been so worried that Nicole had simply said those words because she was going to die.

Waverly turned around, the tip of her nose brushing against Nicole’s as she placed a hand against Nicole’s cheek. She could see the question burning behind Nicole’s eyes and she knew she would never ask it, but she didn’t need to.

“I love you too.”

 

\-------

Nicole woke to a dark room and for a moment she panicked, until she felt Waverly’s shallow breaths against her neck. Still sound asleep and tucked under her chin. She pressed a quick kiss to Waverly’s forehead before she slipped out of bed and down the stairs.

Still totally unfamiliar with her surroundings she somehow managed to find a glass in the kitchen without much trouble and got herself a drink of water. She only got a few sips in before she realised she wasn’t alone in the room, she turned around and saw Wynonna sitting at the table behind her staring vacantly off into space. Nicole wasn’t sure if she had registered Nicole entering the room at all.

“Everything alright?” Nicole asked quietly, she didn’t want to startle Wynonna when she was clearly in a world of her own.

“No…” Wynonna answered after letting a few beats of silence hang in the air between them. Nicole took the seat across from her at the table and waited for Wynonna to continue, if she wanted to. “I shot you…”

“You were supposed to.”

“But you were… _are_ …my friend.” Wynonna finally looked at her, a pain in her eyes that Nicole felt as if it was her own. “I should have trusted you…” 

“I’m also a Revenant… _was_ a Revenant?” Nicole shook her head, the idea that she no longer was, still a strange concept to wrap her head around. She’d been a Revenant for longer than she’d even been alive…what the hell was she now? Waverly was sure she was human, but she didn’t have any idea how that could be possible. “I don’t know what that makes me now…”

“Dolls has a theory…” Wynonna said and when Nicole didn’t press her to continue, rolled her eyes. “He thinks you might be the opposite now.”

“What exactly is the opposite of a Revenant?”

“I don’t know…an angel?” Wynonna laughed, the absurdity of the word not lost on Nicole either who joined Wynonna in a fit of laughter. “I mean, if demons exist I guess the opposite could too, right?”

“So, does that mean I’m still not technically alive then? I can’t die?” Nicole’s laughter died in her throat as she swallowed thickly. She might never get to grow old…grow old with Waverly.

“Would you really want to test whether or not that theory is true?”

“No! Definitely not.” Nicole shook her head and the side of Wynonna’s mouth quirked upwards. “We really were going to tell you Wynonna, I wanted to prove myself to you…prove I could be trusted.”

“I know that now…” Wynonna folded her arms in front of her on the table and stared down at the wood. Nicole didn’t know how long she was out for, long enough for Waverly to tell Wynonna the whole truth no doubt. “I didn’t think I could trust you…that’s why I followed you.”

“Yeah,” Nicole knew she was being followed, she just imagined it was the same person who’d been following her for weeks. If she had even considered for a moment that it might have been someone else, she would have been more careful. She couldn’t exactly blame Wynonna though. “If I was you, I don’t know that I would’ve trusted me either…you were looking out for Waverly.”

“But you just let me shoot you. You didn’t try to fight me off or…get Waverly to change my mind, why?” Wynonna looked totally confused and Nicole could only shrug. She knew Wynonna shooting her was inevitable so why delay it when she was so sure that Wynonna was going to be the Earp to end the curse, that Waverly would eventually be safe...that Waverly deserved better than to be with someone who would have to leave her eventually anyway. 

“You were doing what you’re supposed to, Wynonna. I know the curse needs to end.”

“Doesn’t make me feel any less shitty. When I called Waverly and told her what was going on, she…” Wynonna closed her eyes as she took a couple of deep breaths. Nicole could only imagine how distraught Waverly must have been. “I thought she was actually going to murder me through the phone before I managed to get the words out.” 

“I’m sorry I said she was ok with it.” Nicole winced, she was sure by now that Waverly had told Wynonna that Nicole hadn’t let Waverly speak to her but she couldn’t be sure. “She was never going to be ok with it...no matter when it happened.” 

“You were trying to make it easier for me?” Wynonna asked, and Nicole nodded. “Shit…maybe you really are an angel!” Wynonna laughed and Nicole just smiled before she finished off the rest of her glass of water. She didn’t know if she believed that but she certainly felt different… _good_ .

“Have you slept?” Nicole pushed back her chair and stood, she left her glass in the sink and made a mental note to do them in the morning. Make up for all the times Waverly had done hers without Nicole ever asking.

“Not yet.” Wynonna shook her head slowly and Nicole bobbed her head in understanding, she wasn’t sure she would have slept either had she not felt like she would’ve collapsed earlier if she hadn’t. 

“Go sleep, still plenty more Revenants to get rid of in the morning.” Nicole said seriously, and Wynonna gave her a hum in agreement as she rose from the table. She paused in the doorway, that pained look back in her eyes as she lingered and watched Nicole lean up against the countertop. Nicole gave her the most genuine smile she could. “We’re good, Earp. I promise.”

“Yeah…ok.” Wynonna rapped her knuckles against the wall and gave Nicole one last once-over before she retreated from the kitchen. 

Nicole waited until she heard old bed springs in the room next door before she headed back upstairs. She stood in the doorway to Waverly’s room just watching as her chest slowly rose and fell. She hoped that Waverly didn’t blame Wynonna for what had happened, she knew she certainly didn’t and if Wynonna hadn’t shot her…who knew if she would be standing where she was right now. If they had waited until Nicole was the last one…Nicole shook her head. She wasn’t even going to think about it. She was _here_ she was maybe, _possibly_ human again, she had Waverly and she had work to do. That was all that mattered. 

Nicole knew she would have to be more careful now, she really did not want to test _that_ theory out, but she wouldn’t have to hide anymore. She could tell Wynonna everything she knew about each and every Revenant hiding with Bobo in that trailer park, she could hand over all the information she had compiled about them and the rest, and not have to worry about trying to split it up into smaller, more believable chunks. Nedley was unlikely to change his mind about her assisting in Black Badge officially but she hoped if she continued to prove herself, in time he just might. 

Nicole pushed off the doorjamb with a grin as a thought came that thrilled her. Whether she was human or something else, Peacemaker didn’t respond to her anymore and that had to mean she was no longer bound to the curse. She didn’t have to go anywhere and maybe she wouldn’t have to disappoint Nedley at all. She hadn’t let the notion of being Purgatory Sheriff settle anywhere within her, not when she knew it wasn’t a possibility but now...now she couldn’t help picturing it. Apart from Waverly, she wasn’t sure there was anything she had ever wanted more. 

Waverly stirred a little as Nicole climbed back into the bed but it didn’t seem like she’d woken her, she placed a kiss to the tip of Waverly’s nose before settling down on the pillow, her smile still impossibly wide. Thoughts of how she could make a life now, a _real_ life, without waiting for the day it would inevitably be taken away by a bullet from Peacemaker, swimming through her mind. 

“You’re really still here,” Waverly said, sleep-ridden as she blindly reached out to feel for Nicole’s face. Did this all feel just as surreal to her as it did for Nicole? Nicole guided Waverly’s hand to her cheek, turning her head quickly to press her lips to Waverly’s palm. 

“Not going anywhere, baby,” Nicole whispered, and she committed the content, slightly shaky sigh that Waverly breathed out to her memory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may or may not be playing with an idea for an epilogue for this fic, nothing set in stone yet but after the s3 finale I got some ideas so we'll see what happens. 
> 
> I'm pretty much always writing something or attempting to anyway so there will be more fics coming your way from me before s4 rolls around for sure.
> 
> Thank you again for reading and if you'd like to follow me on twitter you can find me here - [@JNSbeth](https://twitter.com/JNSbeth)  
> <3

**Author's Note:**

> So...are you in for this ride or nah? Let me know! 
> 
> I’ll be updating every Tuesday :) 
> 
> If you'd like you can follow me on twitter @JNSbeth :D


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